Water potential, aiming at the modernization of traditional virtualization... "Reduce complexity, minimize vendor dependence"

Companies are enhancing their demand for modernizing decades-old traditional infrastructure without complete demolition and reconstruction. In particular, as the trend of migrating from existing virtualization environments to Kubernetes-based modern infrastructure grows, reducing the “migration burden” has become a core competitive advantage.

SUSE is strengthening its assessment services, migration tools, and support systems to meet this transformation need. Recently, at “SUSECON 2026,” SUSE Chief Customer Officer Imran Khan diagnosed that corporate concerns are not merely technical issues but are closer to “psychological barriers.” He explained that companies operating legacy systems are well aware of the necessity of modernization but often delay decisions due to worries about increased complexity, staffing shortages, and risks associated with migrating core workloads.

Khan emphasized that during the transition from existing environments to new foundations, the most important thing is “certainty.” He stated that SUSE not only provides the necessary technology for customers but also offers so-called “white glove” services, focusing on alleviating anxiety during the transformation process. In other words, their approach is not just selling a tech stack but providing close support throughout the entire migration process.

“Reducing complexity” is key… placing VMs and containers under a unified control system

Currently, one of the biggest frustrations for enterprise IT departments is that as solutions increase, operational complexity actually rises. Multiple point solutions coexist, tools do not coordinate smoothly, resulting in rising costs and operational risks.

SUSE’s proposed solution is a “platform-first” strategy. The approach is to manage virtual machines and containers jointly under a single control system, reducing siloed management tools and lowering total cost of ownership (TCO). For enterprises, this means they do not need to operate existing virtualization assets and cloud-native environments separately but can gradually transition within a unified operational model.

Khan stated that SUSE does not believe that technology alone can solve all problems. He explained that, besides technology partnerships, it is also crucial to strengthen service and support partnerships to help customers fill internal capability gaps through external collaboration. This is interpreted as a strategy focused on improving actual build and transformation success rates, rather than merely selling products.

Minimizing vendor dependency is the key to victory… “Both slow and fast approaches are possible”

In the virtualization modernization market, another critical issue is “vendor lock-in.” Companies are increasingly wary of being tied to specific vendors and require the flexibility to maintain uninterrupted operations even when migrating to new platforms.

SUSE positions its multi-vendor support strategy as an advantage. Khan explained that customers migrating from competitive virtualization platforms to SUSE environments did not experience significant disruptions during the transition. This indicates that modernization does not necessarily mean large-scale failures or complete rebuilds.

He said that, depending on the customer situation, both “slow transition” and “fast transition” are possible. For companies wishing to proceed gradually, SUSE offers phased services and close support; for those needing rapid migration, it leverages its partner ecosystem to support quick transformation via so-called “direct migration.”

Ultimately, the message conveyed is clear. Virtualization modernization for enterprises is no longer a choice but a necessity. However, the market’s expectation is not a grand blueprint but a practical path characterized by “low complexity, minimal disruption, and low vendor dependency.” SUSE is targeting this market gap, committed to bridging the gap between traditional infrastructure and modern Kubernetes environments.

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