CASE STUDY & REFERENCE PLAYBOOK
From VMware
to OpenShift
Migration, then modernisation, then cloud
A practitioner's guide with real-world insights, assessment frameworks, and practical steps to move from VMware to OpenShift — based on an actual enterprise engagement.
Proven Approach
Based on real enterprise experience
Practical Guidance
Templates, checklists and scorecards
Technology Focused
Infrastructure, containers and cloud
Business Aligned
Technical and executive stakeholders
About This Case Study
A regulated manufacturer with roughly 400 virtual machines across two datacentres in one metropolitan area, a mixed storage estate, and a hard decommission date. This page uses that real engagement as a worked example, with practical guidance, frameworks and templates you can apply to your own environment.
"The details are specific because vague case studies teach nothing — but the numbers are that estate's, not yours. Every formula needed to derive your own is given alongside."
400
Virtual Machines
2
Datacentres
Mixed
Storage Estate
Fixed
Decommission Date
1. What This Migration Actually Is
Three programmes, not one.
Almost every VMware exit gets described as one project. It is three, they have different economics, and conflating them is the most common way these programmes lose credibility in their second quarter.
| Programme | What it delivers | Unit of work | Who decides |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Migration |
The same virtual machines, running on a different platform. Licensing and platform outcome achieved. |
The estate |
Infrastructure |
|
Modernisation |
Applications repackaged as containers; the virtual machine retired. |
One application |
Application owner |
|
Cloud |
Workloads running off-premises, in part or whole. |
One application |
The business |
2. Why Organisations Make This Move
The drivers determine what success looks like.
Licensing and Cost Structure
Usually the trigger and funding source. Factor in what is bundled (OpenShift includes management, monitoring and logging) and what is not (guest OS licensing does not change).
Consolidation of Platforms
Run VMs and containers on the same platform with one control plane, one RBAC model, one monitoring stack and one support relationship.
A Path Off the Virtual Machine
VMs sit next to containers on the same network and storage, addressable by the same tooling. This adjacency makes incremental modernisation practical.
Avoiding a Second Migration
Moving to another hypervisor solves licensing but leaves the modernisation problem untouched. Whether that matters depends on whether you intend to modernise at all.
3. Assessment Funnel
From estate inventory to a migration backlog.
FULL ESTATE
Every VM or vCenter
Every VM or vCenter
IN SCOPE
Retire / retain removed
Apply scope filters
TECHNICALLY MIGRATABLE
Blocks resolved
Resolve blockers
WAVE BACKLOG
Grouped by dependency
Plan and sequence waves
4. Operational Differences
What changes for the people running it.
| Area | VMware | OpenShift Virtualization |
|---|---|---|
|
Configuration model |
Imperative (vCenter) |
Declarative (Git, reconciled) |
|
A virtual machine is |
First-class managed object |
Custom resource (runs in a pod) |
|
High availability |
Built-in, on by default |
Assembled from operators |
|
Live migration |
Works with shared storage |
Requires ReadWriteMany volumes |
|
Node maintenance |
Maintenance mode, one click |
Cordon, drain, guests must migrate |
|
Upgrades |
Hypervisor and manager separately |
Whole platform, orchestrated |
|
Troubleshooting |
vCenter events and logs |
Kubernetes events, pod logs |
|
Access control |
vCenter roles and permissions |
Kubernetes RBAC, namespace-scoped |
5. Key Fit Questions
Answer these before committing.
1. Can the storage present ReadWriteMany raw block volumes?
Without this, live migration does not work.
2. Is there compute capacity for N+1 plus failover?
Memory is often the binding constraint.
3. Can existing guest networks be presented to the new platform?
VLANs must reach the new nodes.
4. Is there an owner for every application?
Per-guest verification and sign-off is application-owner work.
READY TO PLAN YOUR MOVE?
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Access all 33 pages, including detailed checklists, scorecards, architecture guidance, and real-world lessons from the case study.
