Topgolf Cut Infrastructure Costs After VMware Migration
The company replaced 650 VxRail hosts to avoid significant licensing cost increases.
Updated on Oct. 13, 2026 in Data Centers
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Topgolf has successfully migrated 12,000 virtual machines from VMware to VergeOS, achieving a total infrastructure cost reduction exceeding $11.3 million. This migration was initiated to mitigate a projected 400 percent price increase following changes to VMware's licensing model.
Why it matters
The shift highlights a broader industry trend where organizations are re-evaluating virtualization stacks to avoid rising costs after Broadcom ended VMware perpetual licenses. This migration demonstrates a path for large-scale enterprises to decouple from vendor-locked software environments.
Topgolf replaced 650 VxRail hosts with 400 Dell PowerEdge servers, facilitating the migration of 12,000 virtual machines. The new architecture enables tenant-level cluster segregation, a feature previously unavailable under their legacy VMware configuration.
The players
Topgolf
A sports entertainment company that operates a network of golf venues using high-performance server stacks for game tracking.
VergeIO
The developer of VergeOS, an infrastructure platform that consolidates compute, storage, and networking virtualization.
Broadcom
A semiconductor and software company that owns VMware and shifted its licensing strategy to subscription-based models.
Dell Technologies
The manufacturer of PowerEdge servers and VxRail hyper-converged infrastructure systems.
The details
The migration required a wholesale replacement of physical server stacks and the complex rewiring of venue columns. Topgolf transitioned to VergeOS, a software platform that integrates virtualization and storage, while simultaneously moving its core gaming logic to a Kubernetes-based architecture—a system for automating the deployment and management of containerized applications. This shift allowed Topgolf to move away from the rigid virtualization environment of their existing VxRail systems.
Timeline
2017: Topgolf began using VxRail infrastructure.
October 2026: Cost savings from the migration were publicly reported.
December 2026: The company expects to complete the removal of all VMware software.
The Tech Race
This move follows a pattern set by Broadcom's transition to VMware subscription-only licensing, which has forced enterprise IT teams to reassess their virtualization stacks. It positions VergeOS as a viable alternative for large-scale operators looking to bypass hardware-vendor lock-in.
While the migration optimizes backend operations, visitors to Topgolf venues will not see direct changes to the user interface. The transition primarily affects the IT infrastructure and software procurement teams tasked with maintaining stable, cost-effective server environments.
The takeaway
Large enterprises facing steep software renewal costs are increasingly finding that the hardware-to-software migration path is both feasible and highly profitable. Watch the second week of December 2026 to see if Topgolf meets its final decommission deadline.
What happens next
Topgolf is scheduled to complete its total departure from VMware systems by the second week of December 2026.
Further reading
For more insight into how enterprises are restructuring their physical server footprints, visit the Data Centers section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Ars Technica.
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