Our clients use VROps to monitor their virtual machine performance, create reports, do capacity planning, and do project planning. We also use the tenant-student app for billing purposes.
Principal Engineer at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Efficient reporting and analytics features
Pros and Cons
- "The initial setup process is fairly simple, especially if you are only setting up a standalone instance."
- "It requires a lot of knowledge to manage. For example, if you are collecting a lot of data for analysis, the virtual appliance drive spaces can fill up. In this case, you need engineers who know how to expand those spaces."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
I've found the reporting and analytics features to be the most valuable.
What needs improvement?
The latest release of VMware Aria Operations has some great new automation features, but I think the pricing could be improved. It's quite expensive, especially for the entire VM workload.
In future releases, I would like to see VMware Aria Operations integrate with Ansible. I understand that VMware has their own orchestration and automation product, but I think it would be valuable to be able to integrate with Ansible as well. This would give users the flexibility to choose the best tool for the job, without having to invest in two separate products.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using VROps for about eight years.
Buyer's Guide
VMware Aria Operations
August 2026
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a very stable solution. But it requires a lot of knowledge to manage. For example, if you are collecting a lot of data for analysis, the virtual appliance drive spaces can fill up. In this case, you need engineers who know how to expand those spaces. The procedure is simple: you just add a new VMDK and start the appliance. The appliance will automatically expand the drives with the NVMe and stuff. However, the problem is that you need engineers who know how to manage and clear up the logs and ensure that they are sent as a stop.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten. I did have some scalability issues when working with the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) stack. For example, if I deployed one instance and needed to scale out to a second instance, I would sometimes run into problems.
VROps is most suitable for enterprise-level companies.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup process is fairly simple, especially if you are only setting up a standalone instance. However, if you are setting up a multi-tenant or multi-cluster environment, the setup process can take longer.
Our clients have hosted it on cloud as well as on-premises.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The licensing is quite expensive for our company. I would probably give it a rating of seven out of ten, where one being expensive and ten being affordable.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I've used both VMware Aria Operations and Veeam ONE.
If I need to troubleshoot a problem, I would use VMware Aria Operations. If I need to get a complete overview of my environment and generate reports, I would use Veeam ONE.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of ten. There is only one area of improvement for me.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Infrastructure capacity & demand manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
It is a scalable product, and we have a couple of 100 users using it in our organization
Pros and Cons
- "They keep improving and updating their apps over time."
- "They should include an integration feature through which we can connect to different vendors by installing a small plugin."
What is our primary use case?
We can manage the virtual environment of our organization with the help of the solution.
What needs improvement?
They keep improving and updating their apps over time. In each new version, we get lots of good features; thus, I don't have any concerns.
They should include an integration feature through which we can connect to different vendors by installing a small plugin.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using the solution for more than five years. Also, I have been using it for 16-17 years, personally.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable product. We have a couple of 100 users using the solution in our organization.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We are using VMware as it is a known product that helps to manage companies' virtual environments. Consumers are accustomed to using VMware, and it's a very old product as well. That's the main reason we are using it.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend others use the solution and rate it as a nine.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
VMware Aria Operations
August 2026
Learn what your peers think about VMware Aria Operations. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2026.
912,022 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Manager Data Center & Services at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
A good infrastructure monitoring & analytics collection tool that could benefit from an improved licensing model
Pros and Cons
- "We like that we are able to combine all infrastructure monitoring using this solution, meaning we receive analytics from across our whole network."
- "We would like to see an improved licensing model to be set up for this solution. The current model charges per CPU, as opposed to being product-based, which would allow us to monitor our complete virtual infrastructure under a single license."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution to monitor the virtual infrastructure health with deep-dive analytics ensuring hypervisors, VMs, network, and storage health. We can also use it for future forecasts for virtual machines, and allocate additional resources for where contention occurs.
How has it helped my organization?
Efficient use of resources/planning has helped my organization.
What is most valuable?
We like that we are able to combine all infrastructure monitoring using this solution, meaning we receive analytics from across our whole network.
What needs improvement?
We would like to see an improved licensing model to be set up for this solution. The current model charges per CPU, as opposed to being product-based, which would allow us to monitor our complete virtual infrastructure under a single license.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this product for two years.
What other advice do I have?
We would rate this solution a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Owner at Innovisie
A stable, scalable solution, with great functionality
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of the solution are the effectiveness of hardware availability and flexibility."
- "VMware Aria Operations is a great product that is very stable."
- "The deployment of the solution can be improved by making it less complex."
- "The initial setup of this solution is complex and takes a couple of weeks to deploy in our environment."
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of the solution are the effectiveness of hardware availability and flexibility.
What needs improvement?
The deployment of the solution can be improved by making it less complex.
The licensing cost is high and needs to be reduced.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for 20 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
VMware Aria Operations is a great product that is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable and we currently have 800 people using VMware Aria Operations.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously used other solutions and switched to VMware Aria Operations because of its functionality.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of this solution is complex and takes a couple of weeks to deploy in our environment. We require six administrators for the deployment and maintenance.
What about the implementation team?
The implementation was completed through a vendor.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution requires an annual license which is very expensive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing VMware Aria Operations I evaluated other solutions.
What other advice do I have?
I give the solution an eight out of ten.
I would recommend the solution to others.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
System Administrator at Orange Business Services
A good reporting tool that lack customizable views, and can currently only be operated on-premises
Pros and Cons
- "We appreciate that this solution gives accurate reporting."
- "We would like the default views on the reports for this solution to be improved; at present we have to customize the view before use."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution solely for reporting purposes.
What is most valuable?
We appreciate that this solution gives accurate reporting.
What needs improvement?
We would like the default views on the reports for this solution to be improved; at present we have to customize the view before use.
We would also like the option for this solution to be cloud operated.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for just over one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We have found this to be a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
To our knowledge, this is a scalable product.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of this solution was easy.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Network Architect at Capgemini
Has good integration and plugins, a fresh UI, and allows you to build custom dashboards, but needs more work in the ITSM space
Pros and Cons
- "What I like most about VMware vRealize Operations (vROps) is how it integrates into the vCenter. You'll get a similar hierarchical view of your host, your VMs, your resource pools, etc. I also like the granularity, particularly the fact that you could go pretty deep into the metrics and data retention as well. You could go far back several months to try and plot performance trends, eventually leading up to an issue or post-incident management. I also like the plugins in VMware vRealize Operations (vROps). I find the plugins good, especially because you could plug those into Dell. For example, there was a way to visualize how your Dell infrastructure is performing. You could build dashboards, even custom dashboards for your operational teams. You could take a look at what was going on and also look into people doing incident management, troubleshooting, etc. You could customize your experience with VMware vRealize Operations (vROps), and I found that good as well. I also like the UI of VMware vRealize Operations (vROps) because it's nice and very, very fresh."
- "In terms of what could be improved or added to VMware vRealize Operations (vROps), from my experience, it needs more work in the ITSM space because my company never used it as an IT service management tool."
What is our primary use case?
We were using VMware vRealize Operations (vROps) for analyzing virtual machines and using it by host. We didn't use the solution for costing or optimization around costing. We used it predominantly for troubleshooting.
What is most valuable?
What I like most about VMware vRealize Operations (vROps) is how it integrates into the vCenter. You'll get a similar hierarchical view of your host, your VMs, your resource pools, etc. I also like the granularity, particularly the fact that you could go pretty deep into the metrics and data retention as well. You could go far back several months to try and plot performance trends, eventually leading up to an issue or post-incident management.
I also like the plugins in VMware vRealize Operations (vROps). I find the plugins good, especially because you could plug those into Dell. For example, there was a way to visualize how your Dell infrastructure is performing. You could build dashboards, even custom dashboards for your operational teams. You could take a look at what was going on and also look into people doing incident management, troubleshooting, etc. You could customize your experience with VMware vRealize Operations (vROps), and I found that good as well.
I also like the UI of VMware vRealize Operations (vROps) because it's nice and very, very fresh.
What needs improvement?
In terms of what could be improved or added to VMware vRealize Operations (vROps), from my experience, it needs more work in the ITSM space because my company never used it as an IT service management tool.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used VMware vRealize Operations (vROps) for about three years, and I've used it for the past twelve months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
VMware vRealize Operations (vROps) is a stable solution. My company didn't have any issues with it in terms of outages, or severity in terms of the issue. From time to time, the solution would act up, but that was down to underlying issues on from my company's side, not from the VMware side. Overall, it's a stable product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In terms of scaling VMware vRealize Operations (vROps), it's challenging, especially with all of the data you're putting into the solution, so you do need a lot of infrastructure to sustain a pretty big VMware estate, especially if you're looking at the tens of thousands of virtual machines sending data.
Scalability could still be improved in some ways, or you need to think about how to reduce the amount of data that gets sent to VMware vRealize Operations (vROps) that you don't necessarily need or use.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support for VMware vRealize Operations (vROps), or VMware in general, has been good from my experience. Usually the response time is good. The team gets back to you within a reasonable time frame. The technical support team always asks for logs before carrying out an investigation. Sometimes, you want to expedite solutions to your issues or to get somebody on an issue fairly quickly, but you still have to collect logs, zip those up, and then send those to VMware, and that can take time.
I can't remember exactly, but there was a way to send in logs ahead of time to a VMware engineer through VMware Skyline, so the engineer wouldn't need to collect logs as a pre-requisite before starting the investigations. Other than the log expectation, VMware has good support overall.
How was the initial setup?
The setup for VMware vRealize Operations (vROps) was easy. After getting used to it, setting it up was easy enough. It also became easy to navigate and use. How the solution was set up was that it was connected to the vCenter, then the adapters were set up, then you get the data to synchronize across that, and that's okay.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
In terms of the pricing for VMware vRealize Operations (vROps), I can't remember exactly how much it costs, but it was included in the VMware vSphere enterprise plus licensing package my company paid for.
What other advice do I have?
I've mostly used VMware vRealize Operations (vROps).
My rating for VMware vRealize Operations (vROps) is seven out of ten.
My advice to others who want to start using VMware vRealize Operations (vROps) is to use its full capability. It doesn't just do analytics and cost optimizations. It can do a whole lot more. You should use it in depth and try to integrate it into other IT processes. For example, my company only used a third of the full capability of VMware vRealize Operations (vROps) over the time I was on the team. I would recommend it to anyone, specifically to explore what it can do and then work out how it can benefit you. People should also pay attention to scale as well, because the bigger your estate, the more instances you will need to sustain that scale. Just pay attention to upgrading VMware vRealize Operations (vROps) as well because that's also a journey to upgrade instances, in particular maintenance and lifecycle management.
My previous company had a partnership with VMware. It had an enterprise license agreement, which means it was getting different services and different products from VMware.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Network Engineer at FSDH Merchant Bank Limited
A very powerful tool that businesses need for their everyday running
Pros and Cons
- "It's very easy to use and very stable. Scaling up for future use will be no issue with this solution."
- "I would advise others to start using this because they will not regret it."
- "Your range of use will be restricted by the license level you have chosen."
- "The only thing is, we're on Essentials Plus. There are some things we want to do that that particular version of the license will not allow, so we would need to upgrade to a higher one."
What is our primary use case?
We use it to run virtual machines where we host our applications, web servers, machine servers, and even database servers, then we have segregation where we even have used it both for tests, and on production virtual machines.
How has it helped my organization?
We can easily take backups by integrating with other third-party tools, we are able to take backups and restore them very easily. We can spin up virtual machines almost at the speed of thought.
What is most valuable?
One of the main features is it's very easy to use.
It's very intuitive. You go on the web browser and when you log onto the application interface, you can easily see almost anything you need to.
The homepage dashboard shows you your CPU, the memory, and your network utilization, just at a glance. Even when you go to individual virtual machines, you're able to see the same report at a glance, I think that's very helpful.
You can also have templates that have all the necessary audit compliance, probably at the direct patch level, and then deploy whenever you need it. I think it's a very powerful tool that a business needs for its everyday running.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using VMware for more than seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is very stable - we always want to watch for stability and, in most cases, we have found that whenever there are vulnerabilities that have been identified they either come up with a workaround or a solution within a short time.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Today we still use virtual machines, but it helps us to scale for when we are ready to move towards consumerized applications.
It's flexible so you can add more hosts; of course, this is subject to licensing.
How are customer service and support?
Customer support is very helpful, very responsive, and most times, very knowledgeable. If the support doesn't know something, sometimes they will tell you that they'll get back to you, which is awesome because they usually do.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We switched to VMware because it's easier to manage and easier to run and scale with virtual machines.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was fast. I downloaded the standard version from a virtual environment. I had a workstation on my laptop and that was where I tried it out. Ease of setup is awesome. In the production environment, as long as you adhere to the minimum hardware requirement, you won't have an issue.
What about the implementation team?
It was implemented in-house, by a team of four, in conjunction with local support.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The only thing is, we're on Essentials Plus. There are some things we want to do that that particular version of the license will not allow, so we would need to upgrade to a higher one.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We had looked at other OEMs and partner OEMs, but none had as good reviews as this solution.
What other advice do I have?
For the initial set up, you have to meet the minimum hardware requirement to avoid issues.
I would advise others to start using this because they will not regret it. I would rate this solution and eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Joint Director at PAA
Integrates well with other products, has a very nice dashboard, and is stable
Pros and Cons
- "vRealize has a very nice dashboard. It integrates well with other products such as those from Oracle."
- "VMware provides 24/7 online support, and I would give them a ten out of ten."
- "It would be good to have more detailed reports and more details on the dashboard."
What is our primary use case?
This solution is mainly used for the orchestration of servers and for obtaining reports such as utilization reports or load reports.
How has it helped my organization?
In decision making, it is very useful to have a nice dashboard. We have also integrated with QlikView, which is an analytic tool.
What is most valuable?
vRealize has a very nice dashboard.
It integrates well with other products such as those from Oracle.
What needs improvement?
It would be good to have more detailed reports and more details on the dashboard.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using it for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a very stable product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable as well. Our system administrators and data center administrators use this product.
How are customer service and support?
VMware provides 24/7 online support, and I would give them a ten out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very easy because VMware provides 24/7 online support to us. Everything is much easier for us, because of their support.
The deployment took about one to two days. You would need one or two people, such as IT managers, for deployment and maintenance.
What about the implementation team?
We used a third party team for the deployment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have licenses on a three year basis. Licensing costs are much higher, but given the stability of the solution, it is a reasonable price.
What other advice do I have?
It's a stable product and is recognized worldwide. It is much more expensive than other products, but it is stable. Therefore, I would rate it at eight on a scale from one to ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Head Of Business at Zeta-Web Nigeria Limited
Has good performance and makes it easy to consolidate all the servers
Pros and Cons
- "I like the fact that the performance is good and that it makes it easy to consolidate all your servers."
- "Our customers who have used it have definitely seen an ROI; instead of using so many physical servers to achieve the same thing, they've reduced it to five physical servers, and they are able to do much more with those five servers."
- "If the cost of the license could be cheaper, it would be good."
What is our primary use case?
We use it for data center virtualization and management.
What is most valuable?
I like the fact that the performance is good and that it makes it easy to consolidate all your servers.
What needs improvement?
If the cost of the license could be cheaper, it would be good.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been dealing with this solution for about three years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
VMware vRealize Operations (vROps) is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable solution. We have two clients who are using the product.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is very good. They get it sorted within the SLA.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. It took about two weeks to deploy it.
We had a team of one or two engineers for the implementation process.
What was our ROI?
Our customers who have used it have definitely seen an ROI. Instead of using so many physical servers to achieve the same thing, they've reduced it to five physical servers, and they are able to do much more with those five servers.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The licensing model is annual. Compared to the price of other products, VMware vRealize Operations (vROps) is a bit on the high side. If it could be cheaper, it would be good.
What other advice do I have?
I would absolutely recommend the product and would give it an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Associate Tech Specialists at Pearson
It's useful for automation and monitoring our critical environments
Pros and Cons
- "I think vROps is scalable and suitable for our environment."
- "We haven't had any issues with vROps."
- "VMware could improve the way VROps forwards critical alerts to Microsoft Teams."
What is our primary use case?
I was previously working remotely and using vRealize Operations in a virtual environment. Now I'm working in person, so we use vROps to monitor our critical systems. We didn't use all of the product's features. We mainly use vROps for monitoring and automation. In addition to my team, the 20-person management team also monitors this environment, so it's about 30 people in total.
What is most valuable?
Mainly we are working on the vSphere monitoring, orchestration, and automation.
What needs improvement?
We are trying to consolidate our data centers, so the monitoring could always be improved. VMware could improve the way VROps forwards critical alerts to Microsoft Teams. I can't give feedback about anything else because we are not using all the features.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We haven't had any issues with vROps.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I think vROps is scalable and suitable for our environment.
How are customer service and support?
VMware technical support is good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I also work with ControlUp when our customers need a specific metric. We only use ControlUp for that single feature.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup isn't complex.
What other advice do I have?
I rate VMware VROps nine out of 10. It's an excellent product for monitoring a VMware virtual environment.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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Updated: August 2026
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