# The post-VMware playbook: what to move first, what to leave for last

DevFeed: [The post-VMware playbook: what to move first, what to leave for last](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/the-post-vmware-playbook-what-to-move-first-what-to-leave-for-last-17498.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.giantswarm.io/blog/post-vmware-migration-playbook>)

Author: manuel@giantswarm.io (Manuel Gawert)

Published: 2026-08-18T09:25:47Z

Content type: tutorial

Language: en

Sources: [Giant Swarm Blog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/giant-swarm-blog.md>)

Topics: [migration](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/migration.md>), [Proxmox](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/proxmox.md>), [virtualization](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/virtualization.md>), [Amazon Web Services](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/aws.md>), [Azure](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/azure.md>)

Tags: [cost](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cost.md>), [cost-optimization-in-kubernetes](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cost-optimization-in-kubernetes.md>), [migration](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/migration.md>), [open-source](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/open-source.md>), [platform-engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/platform-engineering.md>), [proxmox](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/proxmox.md>), [time](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/time.md>), [virtualization](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/virtualization.md>)

## AI overview

This article presents a migration playbook for teams evaluating a move away from VMware. It focuses on sequencing workloads, deciding among Proxmox, Azure, and AWS, and accounting for workload fit, risk, time, and cost. It emphasizes making the infrastructure decision before moving workloads because migrations can stall when that decision is unresolved.

## Source excerpt

The post-VMware playbook: what to move first, what to leave for last, and what each option costs in risk, time, and money. (Giant Swarm)