US convenience store chain Sheetz is migrating 11,000 virtual machines (VMs) across its 838 locations away from VMware vSphere to StorMagic's SvHCI hyperconverged platform, citing Broadcom's post-acquisition pricing and licensing changes as the primary reason. The company has already completed migrations at over 600 stores, averaging 200 per month, and expects to finish the entire project within four months.
Broadcom's changes trigger exodus
Sheetz had used VMware virtualization on two Dell servers per store since 2019. Scott Robertson, the chain's infrastructure team manager, said Broadcom's elimination of perpetual licenses in favor of mandatory subscriptions and five-year commitments created "too much uncertainty around long-term budgeting" and increased vendor dependence. The projected price hikes forced the retailer to seek alternatives, joining a growing list of enterprises abandoning VMware after Broadcom's $69 billion acquisition closed in late 2023.
StorMagic fills the gap
Sheetz already used StorMagic's SvSAN virtual storage area network alongside VMware for critical in-store applications since 2019, making the transition to StorMagic's full hyperconverged platform a natural step. Gary Sliver, director of platform engineering, said the initial rollout proved StorMagic could deliver the resilience and centralized management needed across a large, distributed retail environment. The migration required no hardware upgrades and was performed remotely, saving significant costs.
Challenges and scale
Migrating 12 to 14 VMs per store in a 24/7 retail environment required heavy automation and meticulous planning. Robertson noted that SvHCI's API maturity meant extra work, but the VM Import Utility and automation were vital to scaling the migration. The company is also replacing two additional VMs per store as it transitions from Windows 10 to Windows 11. StorMagic, traditionally known for serving small-to-medium businesses, now targets enterprise clients with many distributed locations, seeing opportunity as Broadcom's VMware strategy drives customers away.
Broader industry shift
Sheetz is not alone. Allstate, T-Mobile, and UK grocery chain Tesco have also revealed plans to migrate off VMware. Gartner estimated in September that 35 percent of VMware workloads would move elsewhere by 2028. Broadcom has defended its licensing changes as industry-standard and considers the acquisition financially successful, but the customer backlash continues to fuel competition from alternatives like StorMagic, Nutanix, and Microsoft Azure Stack HCI.