IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions vs. VMware Workstation Pro

I think IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions would be a good fit for a medium to a large company looking to outsource their current in-house VMware products. The IBM solution would allow them to outsource their current infrastructure so that the company could then concentrate on their core business, whatever that may be. A smaller company with a smaller VMware footprint would probably not be a good fit here. It's a pretty complex process to get things started, so it might not be worth it for a smaller company.

Incentivized

I would not recommend using a VM as a complete replacement for your everyday driver, but I would recommend
it for testing. One way that I use Workstation Pro is with testing GPO's. I can
make a change to a user or computer GPO, take a snapshot, reboot the computer
to pull the GPO, see if it worked. If it didn't, I revert to the last snapshot before the GPO was pulled, make some changes to the GPO again, and test on the test VM. The same style
of testing can be used with creating and changing scripts for computer changes.
We have a whole computer setup script that installs software and changes a ton
of settings. On a VM you can test over and over to make sure the script runs
how you want it to and revert if you didn't like the script outcome. Especially
handy with software installs, so you don't have to wait for a program to
uninstall and then edit the script and run the script again. Using snapshots save me so much time in testing!

Incentivized

• Adaptable valuing relying upon size and scale.
• The presentation is first rate. Our on-prem climate was continually experiencing slack and general languor. With IBM running everything, it's much smoother.
• Start another group as little as one ESXi worker or scale a current bunch.

Incentivized

• It provides a great remote access tool for accessing and managing servers in virtual environment. With the security risks surround remote desktop this provides a good alternative to do the same functions.
• The app itself is very lightweight and easy to install/maintain.
• Sandbox testing can be a time consuming thing to setup and do. Workstation makes this easy to create, use, and put away. This make you more willing to put new things in the sandbox and test them before production usage.
• The cost of workstation is very affordable for the functionality that you get and you can try it for free before you buy it.
• We use it to run apps that can be difficult to setup or conflict with other apps. We just spin this app VM up run it, and then shut it back down. The startup and shutdown is very quick.

Incentivized

• Support is horrible and or non-existent
• Documentation is out of date and incorrect for the most part
• IBM employees and salespeople are not aware of features or offerings
• Does not integrate the Zerto, only Veeam and has limited options for data migration

Incentivized

• At the moment, it's incompatible with Microsoft's HyperVM, which is used in Docker and the Linux Subsystem on Windows 2 (WSL 2).
• VMware shared files sometimes stop working and need to be reset.
• 3D support is limited to Windows and only certain scenarios.

Incentivized

It's a solid product, and if they make it compatible with HyperVM (WSL, Docker, etc.) it would be great

Incentivized

It is easy to use and setting it up is simple. The only con is that the pricing is a little bit high as well as documentation is a little low; so we had to do some personal learning to be able to fully utilize the product, or hop on the phone with someone.

Incentivized

There are some settings that can only be done by editing the VMX file. However, that is easily done, and you can find examples on the internet easily.

Incentivized

Overall, just a great experience here. No one in my opinion gets a perfect 10/10 rating (no one is ever perfect), so 9/10 is probably as good as it gets! From initial planning to post implementation support, the IBM Cloud and professional services has been there for my group as much as we have needed them. Great job!

Incentivized

I haven't had to call VMware Workstation support. The majority of the time, whenever I have a problem, I can perform an online search and find the answers I need. Online forums and users with similar situations are generally sufficient to answer any questions I have had, though, from previous experience at another company, their support is outstanding and responsive to circumstances. However, that is generally for a paid support contract and should be expected when you are paying for that support.

Incentivized

IBM professional services helped us plan and implement the project with great success. They guided the project from planning, scoping, pre-implementation, testing, roll-out, then production and post-production support. We were very impressed with their knowledge of VMware and really appreciated their desire to make our project a success. I would highly recommend them!

Incentivized

IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions stacks up against them, we fully agree there are so many features in IBM cloud for VMware Solutions that make it unique and different. The system provides us hypervisor security level and the system even has live backup and storage capacity of data. This system provides us with accuracy that helps us to reduce errors and vulnerability.

Incentivized

VMware ESXi is more enterprise based whereas VMware Workstation offers capabilities at a lower cost and smaller scale. VMware Workstation Pro is also user friendly and easy to install. It can be utilized on a regular desktop system as the name implies. It helps with also demonstrations when needed to clients without having bulky hardware every time.

Incentivized

• It has a positive impact on the cost required to maintain our vSphere environment by allowing us to get rid of our vsphere hardware and not worry about maintenance either.
• There have been very few negatives, but one would definitely be the open-ended cost associated with cloud products in general.

Incentivized

• When updating multiple VM's, this is a much quicker option vs trying to either RDP to them or console using Vcenter
• We are required to run a VM locally for certain tasks, and this has been the most effective way to use it
• The ability to manage a VM without having to worry about the console freezing up helps with management

Incentivized