- HPE pushes morpheus as VMware -Virtualization costs rise during Broadcom
- Socket-based pricing offers costs prediction for high core system installations
- Morpheus aims to compete but VMware remains deeply rooted in the business
Hewlett Packard Enterprise has seemed to tackle growing rumblings from its customers on rising VMware licensing fees following Broadcom’s acquisition of the virtualization company in 2023.
HPE actively responds to these concerns, especially from those who see greater increases in virtualization costs, by pushing his Morpheus platform on its recent HPE Discover 2025 event.
HPE acquired Morpheus in 2024 and has since worked to develop it into a viable opportunity for companies that want to reduce or end their dependence on VMware.
A choice of editions
Morpheus is integrated into HPE’s wider private cloud offers, with two available versions that fit different needs.
The VM Essentials Edition is aimed at smaller environments and supports the control of local sqm clusters and VMware clusters through VCenter.
This edition has a much lower input cost, priced about $ 600 per day. Socket, and unlike Broadcom’s License Per-Core, as some say, punish the scale remains HPE’s per. Socket model firmly regardless of hardware configuration.
This can appeal to those with high core counting systems and help organizations better keep on top of their infrastructure costs.
For more advanced implementations, there is Morpheus Enterprise. This includes profiling and cost calculator tools to help compare cloud and on-Prem settings. This version is priced at around $ 2,500 per Socket.
HPE’s goal seems to give customers a clearer path away from VMware that starts small and scales up.
Whether it is enough to make a buck in VMWARE’s deep anchoring across business environments to see, but HPE clearly makes the matter.
Servethehome’s Patrick Kennedy writes, “We know that many people are struggling with virtualization license costs. It seems that HPE sees the need. It was actually nice to see HPE aggressively trying to move customers out of VMware, and the Morpheus level was certainly busy today.
