If you’re an MSP or CSP, you already know the headline: Broadcom cancelled the VCSP program, and the window to find an alternative is closing fast. What’s less talked about is the compounding problem underneath it. The VMware stack you need to replace isn’t one product — it’s six, each with its own license, its own SKU, and its own line on your invoice. NSX. vSAN. vCenter. Aria. VCF. Tanzu. Rebuilding your service catalog on that kind of licensing complexity isn’t just expensive — it’s an unsustainable business model for a managed service provider.
Platform9 Private Cloud Director (PCD) replaces all six. One platform, one SKU. Here’s exactly what that means.
The Six Replacements
VMware NSX → PCD Virtualized Networking
NSX is VMware’s software-defined networking layer — and one of the priciest line items in the stack. PCD includes a full SDN suite out of the box: virtual networks, distributed virtual routing, security groups, load balancer as a service, DNS as a service, BGP support, and hardware offloading via DPU/SmartNIC. For MSPs, the critical detail is that virtual network isolation between tenants is native, no add-on required to keep customer environments cleanly separated.
VMware vSAN → PCD Block Storage
vSAN pools local disks across hosts into shared, software-defined storage but it ties you to a specific hyperconverged architecture and, increasingly, specific hardware. PCD takes a different approach: bring your own storage. It supports block storage from NetApp, Pure Storage, Dell/EMC, HPE, IBM, and more, with persistent or ephemeral volumes, and live storage migration included. Reuse the infrastructure you already have.
VMware vCenter → PCD Management Plane
vCenter is the operational heart of any VMware environment — the console where VMs get created, clusters get configured, and resources get managed. PCD’s management plane covers the same ground: GUI-based VM management, cluster blueprints, VM high availability, VM live migration (the vMotion equivalent), Dynamic Resource Rebalancing (the DRS equivalent), and snapshots. VMware admins can sit down and be productive with minimal retraining. One of our customers put it plainly: a VMware admin was creating and managing VMs with no training at all.
VMware Aria → PCD Monitoring & Orchestration
Aria ( formerly the vRealize suite) handles operations visibility, log analytics, and automation across the VMware stack. It’s also one of the first things that gets carved out as a separate cost when customers look at their true VMware spend. PCD includes built-in monitoring and observability, a service health dashboard, audit logging, an application catalog, and native ITSM workflow integration via REST API. The core operational visibility and automation that MSPs need to run a managed service is included , not licensed separately.
VMware Cloud Foundation → PCD as the Integrated Private Cloud
VCF is Broadcom’s answer to “I want all of this in one place” It’s a bundled private cloud stack combining vSphere, vSAN, NSX, and vCenter. The problem for MSPs is that Broadcom has made VCF the centerpiece of a partner model built around a much smaller, invitation-only group of large providers. PCD is the open alternative: a fully integrated private cloud built on open standards, deployable on your existing hardware, with no proprietary lock-in and no invitation required.
VMware Tanzu → PCD Kubernetes
Tanzu brought Kubernetes lifecycle management into the VMware ecosystem, but as a separate product layered on top of vSphere. PCD integrates Kubernetes natively — VM and container workloads run side by side on the same platform, with full cluster lifecycle management, bare metal Kubernetes support, and OS image management included. As customer workloads increasingly blend traditional VMs with containerized applications, having both in one place without a separate license matters.
One More Thing: Multi-Tenancy Is Built In
For MSPs and CSPs, this one deserves its own mention. PCD’s multi-tenancy layer: domains, tenants, per-tenant and per-user quotas, VM leases, enterprise SSO, and MFA, is native to the platform. It’s designed for service provider operations from the ground up, not adapted for them after the fact. Broadcom’s restructured partner program has made robust multi-tenant VMware the exclusive domain of a handful of large, authorized players. In VMware it’s another SKU; with PCD, it’s standard.
Getting Here From There
Replacing VMware doesn’t have to mean a disruptive rip-and-replace. Platform9’s free migration tool, vJailbreak, automates the movement of VMware virtual datacenters to PCD with no forced modernization — keep your existing operations, migrate on your timeline. A Fortune 500 customer is currently migrating 40,000 VMs across 3,000 hosts using exactly this approach. PCD is available as a Platform9-hosted management plane, self-hosted for those with specific security requirements.
Six Licenses or One?
For MSPs rebuilding a service catalog under deadline pressure, the licensing math is straightforward. Six VMware products, each separately licensed, each subject to Broadcom’s evolving pricing and packaging, versus one PCD SKU that covers the same ground. That’s not just a cost question. For a managed service business, it’s a fundamental question about what your operational model looks like going forward.If you’re ready to see what PCD looks like in your environment, request a demo or register for one of our upcoming Hands On Labs today.
