Infrastructure Cost Review

Rising IT costs are hitting
every organisation.
Here’s how to respond.

Microsoft 365 prices are rising 5.5–8.5% from July 2025. VMware costs have increased up to 10× under Broadcom. The right response depends on where you sit.

Financial Implications

Two unplanned cost increases. One budget cycle.

If your IT budget was set six to twelve months ago, it almost certainly doesn’t account for what’s coming. These aren’t marginal increases, these can lead to significant cost changes.

Microsoft 365
0%

Price rise from July 2026

Affecting every licenced user. For a 200-person organisation on Business Premium, that’s an additional £18,000–£30,000 per year — with no new functionality.

VMware / Broadcom
0x

Licensing model overhaul

Broadcom has replaced perpetual licences with subscription bundles. Organisations with mature VMware estates are seeing renewal quotes 300–1,000% higher than their previous contracts.

Typical combined annual cost impact for a 200–500 person organisation with a meaningful VMware footprint — for infrastructure that hasn’t changed or improved.

Strategic optimisation, not just absorbing increases

At Bridgeall we are leading IT Consultncy and Microsoft CSP. We help you spend smarter across both platforms. Options range from licence right-sizing to phased platform migration — all without major disruption.

Microsoft 365 Licence Audit

We identify unused licences, over-specified tiers, and consolidation opportunities — typically saving 15–25% on existing spend, often enough to offset the price rise entirely.

VMware Cost Modelling

We model your renewal cost against viable alternatives and give you the numbers to make an informed decision — not just accept the Broadcom quote.

12-Month Cost Projection

A documented comparison of current vs. optimised spend — in a format your Finance Director or board can act on

Phased Migration Planning

Where platform change makes sense, we plan it in stages that often deliver ROI within 12–18 months, funded by the savings themselves.

Your virtualisation platform just became a strategic liability.

The VMware and Microsoft situations require different technical responses. Understanding both is essential for building an honest roadmap and making the right case internally.

VMware / Broadcom

Platform & Commercial Risk

  • Perpetual licences replaced with subscription bundles — no grandfathering

  • Per-CPU pricing replaced with per-core — dense hosts hit hardest

  • Support contracts unavailable for end-of-life bundles
  • Forced migration to VCF bundles many organisations don’t need
  • Roadmap uncertainty as Broadcom consolidates the stack
  • Vendor lock-in deepening year on year

Typical impact: 3–10× cost increase on renewal

Microsoft 365

Licence Efficiency Risk

  • Blanket 5.5–8.5% price uplift from July 2025 — no opt-out
  • E3/E5 confusion: many orgs over-licenced vs actual usage
  • Teams Phone and Copilot add-ons creating licence sprawl
  • Usage analytics rarely reviewed — shelfware accumulating
  • Licence consolidation opportunity missed at renewal

Optimisation typically saves 15–25% on current spend

The four options — and which fits your estate

There’s no single answer to the VMware situation. The right path depends on workload mix, renewal timeline, and appetite for change. We help you model all four.

Negotiate the Broadcom renewal

Reduce core counts, renegotiate bundle scope, or adjust renewal timing before committing.

Best for orgs within 3 years of next strategic review

Migrate to Hyper-V / Azure Arc

For Microsoft-aligned estates, delivers comparable capability at a fraction of the cost.

Best for Azure-committed orgs, <500 VMs

Evaluate Nutanix or alternatives

Nutanix AHV, Proxmox, and others are now viable for many production workloads.

Best for large VMware estates with hardware refresh due

Phased workload migration to Azure

Structured lift-and-shift of suitable workloads reduces VMware footprint and improves resilience.

Best for orgs with BC/DR requirements, aged hardware

A free Infrastructure Cost Review — tailored to your role

30–60 minutes with one of our senior consultants. No obligation, no sales script. The output is yours to keep and share internally.

  • Microsoft 365 licence spend analysis vs. actual usage
  • VMware renewal cost vs. alternative platform modelling
  • Budget impact summary in plain language
  • Prioritised quick wins with realistic timelines
  • VMware estate analysis — workload count, host density, licence exposure
  • Full TCO comparison across viable platform alternatives
  • Microsoft 365 licence audit against actual usage data
  • Technical roadmap and prioritised action plan
Why Bridgeall

Trusted by Scottish organisations for over 14 years

  • 14+Years delivering Managed IT across Scotland
  • 95% Net Promoter Score across public and private sector clients
  • MS Partner – Microsoft Solutions Partner — Azure, Modern Work, Security
  • CE+ Cyber Essentials Plus certified for regulated sector work

Don’t absorb these increases. Manage them.