VMware will soon release an updated version of vSphere Standard, the low-end server virtualization package it hasn't substantially upgraded in years and has barely marketed since Broadcom bought the company in 2023, according to an exclusive report from The Register. The announcement marks a shift back to simpler virtualization tools after three years focused almost exclusively on the more complex and expensive Cloud Foundation private cloud bundle. The company has also changed sales incentives that previously pushed customers toward the pricier product.
VMware's last major vSphere Standard release came in 2022 with version 8, the report notes. When VMware delivered version 9 of vSphere in 2025 alongside VCF 9, it didn't release a new edition of vSphere Standard. The low-end product and another suite called vSphere Enterprise Plus stayed on VMware's product list, but the website devoted only a handful of words to each. Partners and the company itself often wouldn't provide subscription renewal quotes for the low-end offerings, or only issued quotes suggesting customers adopt VCF instead—even though VCF is more powerful but also more complex, costly, and excessive for basic server virtualization needs. Broadcom's business unit sold another smaller package called vSphere Foundation almost exclusively to customers who also bought VCF but needed something smaller for certain locations.
Paul Turner, chief product officer for VMware's Cloud Foundation Division, told the outlet at the VMware Explore conference that the Broadcom unit has "corrected" the incentives that led salespeople to steer customers toward VCF, adding that VMware has sometimes had "too big a focus on VCF." Ram Velaga, president of Broadcom's Infrastructure Software Group, explained that VMware concentrated on VCF because it wanted to counter the narrative that public clouds are the natural home for workloads and instead make the case that private clouds are more cost-effective and simpler to run. Releasing a new low-end server virtualization product at that time might have muddled the message, he said, noting that "people could get distracted" and that VMware could have raised questions about how committed it was to private clouds. Velaga indicated vSphere Standard suits users running around 128 cores, while Turner mentioned memory tiering as a potential feature.
The timing is notable: Turner and Velaga's comments came the same day that Proxmox—an open-source virtualization and containerization platform provider often mentioned by vSphere users as an ideal low-end replacement—announced it had opened a North American office and begun offering round-the-clock support for the first time, having previously only provided support during Austrian business hours. Turner argued the new vSphere Standard will be superior and more resilient than Proxmox, pointing to Proxmox's introduction of 24x7 support as evidence that its maturity lags far behind VMware and its partners. More details about the new vSphere Standard will likely surface when VMware takes its Explore conference to Germany in mid-October, including how the company will bring the product to market—a question of interest since the Broadcom unit dropped most of its channel partners. Low-end VMware users will likely feel both relieved and curious about the vSphere Standard revival, as few wanted to abandon a product with a well-earned reputation for working brilliantly, yet many felt the need to buy VCF and its associated costs meant they had to explore alternatives. Competitors seized that opening: HPE, for instance, made its low-end virtualization bundle free for a year. Such promotions will soon carry less weight, because upgrading is always simpler than migrating. The three-year hiatus left VMware vulnerable in a segment it once dominated, and rivals now have established footholds that won't disappear overnight simply because a refresh is promised.