Date:
7 Nov 2025
Author:
PREO AG
Used software
Stay or go? How companies can benefit from pre-owned VMware licences
Since Broadcom switched the VMware portfolio—including its licensing model—entirely to subscriptions, many IT managers and SAM teams are readjusting their roadmaps. In essence, most standalone products have been discontinued; the key strategic packages today are VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) and VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF). Alongside these, vSphere Standard and Essentials Plus remain available under the subscription model for smaller environments.
Also new and critically important: While existing customers can continue to use their perpetual VMware licenses, they will no longer receive support once their current maintenance agreements (Support and Subscription, or SnS contracts) expire.
However, the drastic price increases associated with the licensing change from perpetual to subscription-only, coupled with the withdrawal of support for expiring SnS contracts, are causing more and more companies to ask themselves: Should we stay or should we go? Finding the right answer is a strategically complex challenge.
There is, however, a pragmatic solution, at least for the transition period, which allows the proven software architecture to continue operating while initially avoiding a sharp rise in licensing costs and new dependencies: The clever use of pre-owned VMware licenses.
VMware Licence Transition – The Advantages of Using Pre-Owned Licenses
1. New Budget and Liquidity Levers
Buying pre-owned VMware licences allows for a sustainable reduction in running licence costs compared to the new subscription models. This relieves pressure on the existing IT budget and ensures planning certainty and continuity.
Lennart Martens, PREO Head of Sales Europe says: “A leading industrial company recently faced a 500% price increase for VMware subscriptions and therefore opted for pre-owned VMware licences from PREO. This not only gained them enormous cost advantages but also strategic flexibility and independence”.
On the other hand, VMware licences that are no longer needed can be sold successfully on the secondary software market due to current demand. By remarketing used software licences, companies gain additional financial leeway that can be invested in new IT projects, for example.
2. Technical Continuity
Once existing licence or support contracts expire, security updates and direct manufacturer support also cease. Companies then have to ensure themselves that security gaps are closed and systems are kept up to date. This can be compensated for by things like coordinated hardening, segmentation, firewalls, monitoring, and strong access management.
In VMware’s case, the situation is further complicated by Broadcom significantly tightening its support policy after the takeover: Customers with perpetual licences no longer receive patches or updates after contract expiry, and some were even asked to uninstall existing updates. This creates an additional security risk, particularly for companies that continue to use their perpetual licences in production.
Key Advantage: Established providers of pre-owned VMware licences, such as PREO, offer third-party support with a specialised partner, such as Origina, ensuring that customers are on the safe side in this regard too.
Lennart Martens adds: “Thanks to the licences from PREO and the support from Origina, the leading industrial company was not only able to cut costs by 68% over the next 3 years but also avoid forced upgrades and vendor lock-in”.
3. Mitigate Vendor Lock-in
Pre-owned licences enable an extremely pragmatic bridge strategy, as core environments are kept stable while sufficient time is gained to run through alternative scenarios. Furthermore, dependence on short-term price increases in subscription models, which many customers know from providers like Microsoft, is significantly reduced.
Good to know: The current legal situation regarding the trade of pre-owned software
The purchase or sale of pre-owned software licences has been legal in the EU, subject to defined conditions, at least since the landmark ruling by the European Court of Justice in 2012. For instance, the perpetual software licence must have been first placed on the market in the EU or another contracting state of the European Economic Area (EEA) with the manufacturer’s consent. Furthermore, the buyer must be able to demonstrably document that all previous owners of the used software licences have permanently deleted their respective copies from their computers. More detailed information on the legal situation, based on the principle known as 'exhaustion of rights', can be found here.
To avoid unexpected difficulties during audits, it is advisable to rely exclusively on reputable and transparent offers. To be on the safe side when choosing a suitable provider, you can find a checklist with all important points available for free download here.
VMware Licence Transition – Cases Where the Pre-Owned Solution is a Particularly Good Fit
Cost Limitations: When there is a need to quickly reduce overall operating expenses or avoid unpredictable subscription price hikes.
Stable Existing Environments: Where workloads and versions are established, existing security controls are robust, and the option for third-party support is available.
Orderly Transition: As a temporal buffer to allow for the clean technical and economic planning of a systematic migration.
Our Conclusion: Pre-owned VMware licences can reduce ongoing licence costs, create liquidity, and mitigate operational risks during the transition—provided that the legal requirements are met, and operations are secured internally and, where necessary, by third-party support.
PREO Customers Benefit from Numerous Advantages
As one of the leading providers of pre-owned software in Europe, PREO offers pre-owned VMware licences and an established external support solution via its strategic partner, Origina. This combination provides companies and public administrations with a legally compliant, transparent, and secure way to continue using VMware products cost-effectively.
The key advantages at a glance:
- Significant price advantages for pre-owned VMware licences.
- Legally compliant and audit-proof licence acquisition and maximum transparency in all transaction steps, including seamless documentation of the chain of title.
- Personal consultation on all matters relating to licence transactions or the integration of pre-owned software licences into classical network structures or hybrid cloud models.
Our Partner: Origina – Gaining More Value from Your Licences
Origina is a global provider of independent software support, which Gartner has recommended for years as a flexible and economical alternative to manufacturer support. The company supports over 800 products from VMware, IBM, and HCL—on open systems and mainframes—and allows customers to continue using their software for as long as they wish, regardless of manufacturer updates or upgrade cycles.
Ideal for…
- Companies that want to continue using their VMware perpetual licences
- Customers with perpetual licences from other manufacturers (e.g., IBM, HCL) for whom independent support makes sense
More Security
- Identify and mitigate risks early Longer Lifespan
- Operate licences long-term without mandatory updates Greater Benefit
- Maximise functionality and modernise More Control
- Actively manage audit and licence risks
Ideal for…
- Companies that want to continue using their VMware perpetual licences
- Customers with perpetual licences from other manufacturers (e.g., IBM, HCL) for whom independent support makes sense
Three Paths to Optimal Use of Origina Choose the scenario that fits your VMware strategy—and stay flexible.
Cleverly Retain Perpetuals Keep your most important perpetual licences. This ensures stability, optimises costs, and makes the best use of your existing infrastructure.
Options with Overview Still in the decision-making phase? From consolidation to a hybrid model. Make decisions with a full information basis.
A Safe New Course Whether migration or platform change: We support you with technical expertise, stable performance, and comprehensive support. Including bug fixing, security management, and performance optimisation throughout the entire process.
