Unlock business agility and get skilled on moving VMware workloads from on-prem to Azure

To stay competitive in today’s AI-driven marketplace, the need for scalable, resilient, and secure infrastructure is critical. Many businesses operating physical and virtual Windows Server and VMware workloads on-premises are exposed to mounting security risks, performance bottlenecks, and technological constraints that create critical vulnerabilities, hindering agility and innovation. In this blog, we explore why migrating these workloads to Azure—and leveraging tools like Azure VMware Solution—can transform your IT landscape, streamline operations, and position your organization for success.

We’ll also introduce our official Plan on Microsoft Learn, Migrate Windows Server workloads and VMware solutions to be AI-ready, through which your team can gain the skills to seamlessly migrate on-premises workloads to Azure, leverage Azure Arc for hybrid environments, and effectively manage and secure Azure resources.

Challenges of on-prem Windows Server and VMware Workloads

Traditional on-premises Windows Server and VMware deployments present several key obstacles for growth, especially as business scales and demands increase:

• High Infrastructure Costs: On-prem environments require significant, escalating capital investment in hardware, maintenance, and upgrades.
• Scalability Limitations: Scaling these on-prem systems can mean additional hardware purchases, leading to delays and added costs.
• Operational Complexity: Managing physical servers and VMware environments can become a resource-intensive endeavor, particularly for smaller IT teams.
• Security Risks: On-prem data centers are vulnerable to evolving security threats, with patching and compliance requiring constant vigilance.
• Limited Innovation: On-prem environments lack access to advanced tools, such as AI and analytics, which cloud platforms offer natively.

Transitioning to Azure: A path to future success and security

Transitioning to Azure offers a solution to common IT challenges, enabling organizations to scale dynamically, enhance performance, and bolster security. Azure's elastic infrastructure adapts to evolving business needs, while its global network ensures business continuity. With its optimized environment for Windows Server and VMware workloads, Azure delivers superior performance and reduced latency.

Azure's robust security framework safeguards your data across physical, infrastructure, and operational domains. With over 100 compliance certifications and advanced threat intelligence, Azure provides comprehensive protection. Integrated with Microsoft Entra ID, Azure offers granular access control and identity management with a multi-layered approach that enables you to harness the power of AI, analytics, and innovation without compromising security. In addition, VMware regularly releases security advisories and bulletins that detail vulnerabilities and provide guidance on how to address them through tools like VMware Patch Manager and Update Manager.

Simplifying the migration process with Azure Migrate

Azure Migrate is a centralized hub that simplifies the process of migrating Windows Server to Azure and assessing migrating VMware workloads to Azure. The tool provides:

• Comprehensive Assessment: Azure Migrate analyzes your on-premises environment to determine compatibility, right-size Azure resources, and identify dependencies.
• Seamless Migration: It supports a variety of migration scenarios, including physical-to-cloud and virtual-to-cloud migrations with HCX, ensuring flexibility for your unique needs.
• Integrated Tools: Azure Migrate integrates with tools like Azure Site Recovery and Azure Database Migration Service, streamlining the entire migration process.

Our official Plan on Microsoft Learn, Migrate Windows Server workloads and VMware solutions to be AI-ready, demonstrates how leveraging Azure Migrate helps businesses transition workloads with confidence, minimizing disruption to operations. This Plan empowers learners to migrate on-premises Windows Server workloads to Azure and master essential Azure administration skills, including monitoring, backup, identity management, and governance.

Choose your path for moving VMware and Windows Server workloads

Ready to move your VMware and Windows Server workloads to Azure and start enhancing performance, bolstering security, and becoming AI-ready? Microsoft offers several options, depending on your requirements.  

Azure VMware Solution

The Azure VMware Solution is a service offered by Microsoft that allows you to run VMware workloads on Azure. It provides a private cloud extension with VMware vSphere clusters built from dedicated bare-metal Azure infrastructure that includes VMware vSphere client, vSAN, NSX manager, ESXivCenter, and HCX.

A straightforward path for moving VMware workloads, Azure VMware Solution combines the familiarity of VMware technology with the flexibility and scalability of the cloud, offering an optimized, cost-effective solution. You can manage your existing environments with the same VMware tools you already know, avoiding the need for time-consuming refactoring. This allows your IT teams to leverage their existing VMware skills and processes while gradually adopting cloud competencies.

Deploying Azure VMware Solution is as easy as setting up an Azure VMware Solution environment in your Azure subscription by creating a private cloud and configuring networking. This environment then seamlessly integrates with your on-premises VMware infrastructure, providing a consistent operational experience.

VMware HCX (Hybrid Cloud Extension) simplifies the migration process by letting you:

• Install HCX: Configure HCX in your on-premises environment and connect it to Azure VMware Solution
• Migrate with vMotion: Use HCX vMotion for live migrations, enabling you to move workloads to Azure with minimal downtime
• Bulk Migrations: Transfer multiple workloads efficiently

Watch a step-by-step demo of HCX migration in action here.

Learn more about migrating to Azure with Azure VMware Solution, including common customer journeys and next steps, at Microsoft Learn.

Azure Native IaaS or PaaS

You can also migrate VMware and Windows Server workloads to Azure Native IaaS and PaaS. These modernization options require refactoring, but allow you to shift to Azure compute, storage, and networking infrastructure for optimized performance and cost.  IaaS is a great starting point for replicating on-premises environments with less refactoring while leveraging Azure’s scalability and security. PaaS enables replatforming workloads into cloud-native solutions, reducing management and further improving performance.

Seamlessly integrate hybrid environments with Azure Arc

For organizations maintaining hybrid environments, the Plan on Microsoft Learn also explains how to leverage Azure Arc to bridge the gap between on-premises and cloud resources.

Azure Arc enables you to manage, govern, and secure your hybrid infrastructure using Azure’s powerful management tools. This means you can:

• Monitor workloads across on-premises, edge, and cloud environments from a single control plane.
• Apply consistent security and compliance policies.
• Use Azure-native services like AI and machine learning in your on-premises environment.

Azure Arc ensures that even workloads that cannot yet migrate to the cloud can benefit from Azure innovation.

Start scaling your workloads on Azure today

Migrating on-premises Windows Server and VMware workloads to Azure offers unparalleled scalability, performance, and security. By leveraging tools like Azure VMware Solution, Azure Migrate, and Azure Arc, businesses can seamlessly transition to the cloud while maximizing the value of hybrid environments.

And with our official Plan on Microsoft Learn, Migrate Windows Server workloads and VMware solutions to be AI-ready, your team will discover how to migrate on-premises Windows Server workloads to Azure and master essential Azure administration skills, including monitoring, backup, identity management, and governance.

Explore even more technical considerations and get expert tips for adopting Azure VMware Solution by watching our free, on-demand digital event, The Future of VMware is in Azure, and by exploring our Azure VMware Solution documentation page.

Start your migration journey today and experience the power of Azure to transform your business.