DIGITAL ECONOMY · ANALYSIS
Topgolf details savings from its migration away from VMware
Topgolf reports a reduction in costs after moving 12,000 virtual machines to VergeOS. The change combines licensing, server replacement and an architectural redesign, limiting direct comparisons with other companies.
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Topgolf moved 12,000 virtual machines from VMware to VergeOS, Ars Technica reports. The company says it wanted to avoid a 400% increase in its VMware costs under Broadcom. Its global infrastructure leader, Scott Forehand, reports more than $11.3 million in infrastructure costs reduced or eliminated, before adjustments related to changes in hardware prices.
The migration goes beyond replacing software. Topgolf replaced 650 VxRail hosts with around 400 Dell PowerEdge servers. Its software costs reportedly fell by 77%. The company also uses VergeOS segmentation to organize its environments by time zone, a configuration that simplifies updates and maintenance, according to Forehand.
The work is accompanied by a redesign of the gaming systems. Topgolf says it moved their operation to equipment installed in the gaming areas and adopted a Kubernetes architecture. This required replacing that equipment, redoing cabling and replacing servers. Coordinating these projects is presented as the main difficulty of the transition.
These savings are an account of the company's experience attributed to the company, without demonstrating an equivalent gain for every migration. Hardware, licenses and architecture all changed together: isolating the effect of VergeOS would require a more detailed comparison. The case primarily illustrates how a pricing change can trigger a broader review of infrastructure.