Analysis & briefs
Vendor-honest intelligence across our seven coverage areas.
-
Veeam Pricing 2026: VUL, Editions and Real Costs
As of October 2026, Veeam’s own online store lists Veeam Data Platform Foundation at $1,550 a year for a pack of 10 workload licenses, which works out to $155 per protected VM or server per year. Advanced is $1,890 and Premium is $2,275 per 10-pack per year, the small-business Essentials bundle is $95 per workload…
-
XCP-ng vs Proxmox in 2026: Pricing, Support and Fit
As of October 2026, XCP-ng and Proxmox VE are both free and open source, and the difference you pay for is support: Vates prices XCP-ng support per host (Essential is $2,000 a year for up to 3 hosts, Pro is $1,000 per host per year with a 3-host minimum), while Proxmox prices per CPU socket,…
-
Hyper-V vs VMware in 2026: Licensing, Cost and Fit
As of October 2026, Hyper-V comes with Windows Server 2025, and the Datacenter edition lists at a suggested MSRP of $6,771 per 16 core licenses with unlimited virtual machines on the licensed host. Broadcom licenses VMware vSphere through per-core subscriptions such as VCF and VVF, with a 16-core minimum per CPU, and its product pages…
-
Proxmox vs VMware in 2026: Licensing, Cost and Fit
As of October 2026, Proxmox VE is free, open-source software with optional support subscriptions of EUR 120 to 1,100 per CPU socket per year, while VMware vSphere is sold only as Broadcom per-core subscriptions (VMware Cloud Foundation or vSphere Foundation) with a 16-core minimum per CPU and no published list price. The practical difference: a…
-
Shadow AI: The $670K Breach Premium and What to Do
IBM’s breach data puts a $670K price tag on shadow AI risk. Here is the control stack that actually works — sanctioned alternatives, inline GenAI data protection, and training — plus an acceptable-use policy skeleton to copy.
-
Private AI Platforms: VMware VCF vs. Red Hat OpenShift AI
Broadcom’s VCF Private AI Services and Red Hat OpenShift AI both promise NVIDIA-validated private AI. A decision-ready comparison with sizing rules, audited benchmarks, and honest downsides for both stacks.
-
Kubernetes Cost Optimization in 2026: Where Waste Hides
Cast AI’s benchmark puts average cluster CPU utilization at just 10–13%. Where Kubernetes waste hides in 2026, why stacked autoscalers fight each other, and how AWS, Google Cloud, and Red Hat each attack the problem.
-
Zscaler + Red Canary: SSE Vendor Moves Into the SOC
Zscaler closed its ~$675M Red Canary acquisition to build an agentic AI SOC. Our analysis of whether an SSE vendor can compete with CrowdStrike, Palo Alto, and Microsoft in security operations — and what MDR customers should renegotiate.
-
Google Closes Wiz: What CNAPP Consolidation Means
Google completed its Wiz acquisition on March 11, 2026. What CNAPP consolidation means for AWS- and Azure-hosted Wiz customers, and a renewal checklist covering contract terms, roadmap independence, and alternatives.
-
AWS European Sovereign Cloud: Who Actually Needs It
AWS launched its European Sovereign Cloud in January 2026 with 90+ services and EU-only operations. We parse the genuine controls, the unresolved US jurisdiction question, and which workloads justify the premium.