Live from CFD, uncover how Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is eliminating VMware lock-in and accelerating Private Cloud adoption with HPE Morpheus VM Essentials. See how this powerful solution integrates VMware environments with HPE’s KVM-based hypervisor for seamless migration, VM-vending, and management. Discover how HPE VM Essentials, available as software or embedded in HPE Private Cloud Business Edition with HPE Alletra B10000 or HPE SimpliVity storage, streamlines virtualization and enhances hybrid cloud agility.

HPE is addressing the challenges customers face due to the Broadcom acquisition of VMware, including escalating costs, vendor lock-in, and uncertain strategies. With the industry seeing a surge in customers actively evaluating alternatives to VMware, HPE offers Morpheus VM Essentials as a solution, providing enterprise-grade features built on the KVM hypervisor. The focus is on delivering a hybrid virtualization management environment through a single pane of glass, allowing customers to manage both VMware and HPE's HVM (HPE VM clustering) infrastructure. This includes essential tooling for IPAM, DNS, and backup integration.

Morpheus VM Essentials serves as a foundational virtualization product, with the option to upgrade to Morpheus Enterprise for expanded functionality, including private and public cloud management, automation, and ITSM integration. It can be compared to vSphere Enterprise or Enterprise Plus, which includes a vCenter console. HPE provides migration capabilities from VMware to HVM, converting VMDK to QCOW2 disk format during the process. It leverages its own proprietary tool built into the Morpheus UI and does not use third-party tools.

VM Essentials is supported on HPE's disaggregated HCI and SimpliVity hyper-converged infrastructure, offering flexibility in deployment and hardware choices, as well as support for third-party hardware. HPE is actively working with ISVs, including backup vendors like Veeam, Commvault, and soon Cohesity, to provide comprehensive integration with the platform. By offering these solutions, HPE aims to alleviate VMware lock-in and enhance hybrid cloud agility for its customers. It integrates with GreenLake through deployment options and by feeding telemetry data to GreenLake dashboards.

Presented by Bharath Ram, Director Product Management, HPE, and Dave Elder, Sr. Technical Marketing Engineer and Principal Technologist, HPE. Recorded live at Cloud Field Day in Millbrae on October 22, 2025. Watch the entire presentation at https://techfieldday.com/event/cfd24/ or visit https://www.hpe.com/ for more information.