This blog was authored by: Mike Gladders, Portfolio Lead | 26 March 2025

Looking for virtualisation alternatives? HPE VM Essentials lets you choose your path

After November 2023’s seismic shake-up in the hypervisor space (you know the one!), it seems like every vendor is either launching a new hypervisor or rebranding an existing one.  At Telefónica Tech UK&I we’ve been keeping close to them all. While each has its strengths and weaknesses, HPE’s latest release could be the one that stands out.

It is called HPE VM Essentials (VME).  That is the name of the Hypervisor … it is also the name of the Manager that comes as part of the offering … it is also the name of the Product Offering itself.  Luckily, we need HPE to be good at developing products, not naming them!  Not the most original naming, but what really matters is how well it performs—and we think HPE is on to something.

Come on then, what actually is HPE VM Essentials?

HPE completed its acquisition of Morpheus Data in August 2024 and quickly set about working with their new colleagues to develop and announce the new HPE VME product, powered by Morpheus technology.  They have brought together an industry leading Cloud Management Platform (CMP) and a tried and tested hypervisor in a product offering that will be ticking a lot of boxes for those looking for freedom of choice,  ease of use, and seamless migration in their search for new hypervisor and management solutions.

The HPE VM Essentials Hypervisor is a KVM-Based hypervisor (and readers shouldn’t be surprised that Morpheus’ own MVM KVM-Based hypervisor that was quietly released in Beta last year is no longer available – hint: this is it).  HPE VME Hypervisor runs on top of Ubuntu (22.04 LTS) and provides all the functionality you’d expect from a hypervisor cluster designed to support customer migrations from competitors in the next few years. Key features include High Availability, Live Migration, and Storage Migration to name a few.  Diving deeper, there are still a few more features in development, with release targets set for this year. We believe these features are crucial to winning over those customers, but we are very excited about the  product’s potential.

Tying it all together — both as a product and as a great opportunity for customers — is the HPE VM Essentials Manager.  Again, HPE has utilised the strengths of its recent acquisition to create this Manager, which is a lite version of the full-blown Morpheus Data CMP (restricted only by license key, with the option to unlock the full power of the Morpheus product with an upgrade later if needed).  The beauty of the VME Manager is that it supports both VM Essentials Hypervisors and Clusters, and VMware by Broadcom Hypervisors and Clusters.  For  customers exploring powerful alternatives to VMware this allows them to run side-by-side, offering the best of both worlds —testing an alternative solution, while continuing to run and manage VMware  from the same central CMP.  When the time comes to migrate HPE has included a tool for converting VMs from VMware to HPE VM Essentials format, with options for more streamlined migrations coming soon.

The thing customers might be most excited about, however, is the potential for cost savings over their existing hypervisor vendors. Socket-based licensing is back by popular demand!  HPE VME offers a simple per-socket licensing model, which, in early conversations with HPE, we have found to be significantly cheaper than you-know-who!

Sounds good, but what next?

HPE is keen to highlight the choice this product brings to customers.  It offers a solution that is ready to use straight away (and is only going to get better over the next few quarters), providing them with excellent options in their private cloud strategies.

HPE has a real vision for this product, and as an HPE partner, we’re in the perfect position to help customers navigate the complexities of evaluating new hypervisors. Choosing the right platform isn’t just about cost—it’s about ensuring long-term flexibility and making the transition as smooth as possible. We’re getting under the hood of HPE VM Essentials, exploring its capabilities firsthand, and comparing it with alternative platforms. If you’re considering a change, we can share our insights and even offer a Hypervisor Migration Assessment to help you make the best decision for your environment.

We think we’ll make this one a series so check back for a deeper dive into the features and capabilities of HPE VM Essentials in the next one.

A couple of HPE videos worth watching you pique your interest in VME:

Getting to know HPE VM Essentials – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3KPIxXzvk0

HPE VM Essentials Software Introduction Webinar – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7MCEJATeag