Sheetz, a major US convenience store chain operating 838 locations, announced it is transitioning its virtualization infrastructure away from VMware toward StorMagic’s SvHCI platform. The migration affects approximately 11,000 virtual machines that have operated on VMware vSphere since 2019, running across Dell R440/R450-series servers at each store location.
According to Scott Robertson, infrastructure team manager at Sheetz, the decision stems from Broadcom’s revised licensing strategy following its acquisition of VMware. The shift from perpetual licenses to subscription-based models with mandatory five-year commitments created budgeting uncertainty and increased vendor dependence, Robertson stated. Sheetz has already completed migration of more than 600 stores, averaging 200 locations per month, and expects to finish the full transition within four months. The company anticipates moving between 12 to 14 virtual machines per location initially, with additional systems transitioning from Windows 10 to Windows 11 over subsequent months.
Sheetz selected StorMagic after already deploying its SvSAN virtual storage offering alongside VMware for critical in-store applications since 2019. Company executives highlighted that the migration can proceed remotely without requiring hardware upgrades at individual locations, generating significant cost savings. Gary Sliver, director of platform engineering at Sheetz, noted the solution delivers necessary resilience and centralized management capabilities for large distributed retail environments.
The project required substantial automation and careful planning to minimize disruption to continuous 24/7 retail operations. Robertson identified automation tools and SvHCI’s VMware Import Utility as essential to scaling the migration, though some additional work was necessary to address the product’s API maturity.
Sheetz joins other major enterprises—including Allstate, T-Mobile, and UK grocer Tesco—in departing VMware. Industry analyst Gartner estimated that 35 percent of VMware workloads would migrate elsewhere by 2028. StorMagic traditionally serves smaller organizations and edge environments at large distributed enterprises, positioning itself to capture additional enterprise clients dissatisfied with Broadcom’s VMware strategy.
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