They say superheroes are evolved humans. VMware Cloud Foundation 9 is becoming the evolved private cloud platform.

Not just a routine upgrade, VCF 9 represents an entire shift in how private cloud infrastructure is built, operated, and consumed, efficiently and cohesively.

When companies have traditionally modernized their infrastructure, they’ve upgraded it in pieces: whether compute, networking, storage or automation tools. But over time, this discombobulation can cause problems, including configuration inconsistency, upgrade schedule variations, tool sprawl, complex dependencies, higher operational risk…

Until today.

VCF 9 is reframing this old model, so that private cloud operations and cloud consumption can sit at the center of the platform, able to be upgraded in a coordinated, stack-wide manner. Unified by a single lifecycle engine and a consistent policy model, they can now enjoy integrated automation across the full stack.

For those organizations who may be modernizing VMware environments – especially those consuming managed services such as OVHcloud’s upcoming Private VMware Cloud Foundation as-a-Service – this shift has measurable operational and economic impact. They are being rescued by a new full-stack software platform, you might say.

Read on to better understand the future of VMware Cloud Foundation 9, and what it means for the future of private cloud.

1. One Interface for Private Cloud Operations

VCF 9 provides a unified operational experience through the VCF Operations Console.

Instead of managing lifecycle tasks across disconnected tools, administrators are gaining centralized visibility for:

• Fleet-wide lifecycle management
• Security posture and compliance
• Certificate and identity management
• Diagnostics and health monitoring
• Global upgrades and patch orchestration

This reduces one of the biggest hidden costs in enterprise infrastructure: operational drift.

According to an IDC Business Value study sponsored by Broadcom, organizations running VCF environments have reported:

• 61% faster deployment of new workloads
• 34% lower infrastructure costs compared to traditional three-tier environments

The key driver is not just automation, it’s platform consistency.

For customers consuming managed VCF services, that will translate into more predictable maintenance windows and reduced operational risk.

2. A Unified Cloud Consumption Experience

Private cloud only delivers full value when it behaves like cloud.

VCF 9 strengthens the consumption model through VCF Automation, and is providing:

• A modern self-service interface
• Unified APIs for infrastructure provisioning
• Infrastructure as Code support
• Policy-based governance built into deployment
• Integrated Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) constructs for multi-tenancy

This allows infrastructure teams to offer curated service catalogs or developer-driven IaaS consumption models – without having to sacrifice governance.

Instead of tickets and manual coordination, application teams will now be able to provision:

• Virtual machines
• Networking constructs
• Storage volumes
• Kubernetes clusters

All governed by centralized policies. The result: faster delivery with controlled oversight.

3. Memory Tiering with NVMe: Production-Ready Efficiency

With VCF 9, Advanced NVMe Memory Tiering allows NVMe devices to function as a second tier of memory, intelligently placing memory pages to extend effective capacity without scaling DRAM costs linearly. In a context where infrastructure costs and hardware availability are becoming critical constraints, this capability helps organizations extract more value from existing servers.

Key enhancements in VCF 9 include:

• DRS and vMotion awareness
• Mixed-cluster flexibility (enabled on some hosts or all)
• Redundancy support via multiple NVMe devices
• Encryption at VM and host level
• Default DRAM: NVMe ratio shift to 1:1 (2× memory by default), customizable up to 1:4

Broadcom internal testing observed:

• Up to 40% TCO savings for most workloads
• Up to 25–30% increased CPU utilization
• Improved VM consolidation ratios

These results depend on workload profiles, particularly environments with high allocated memory but lower active memory.

In practical terms, Memory Tiering allows organizations to run more workloads on the same hardware footprint, improving infrastructure efficiency at a time when compute capacity, DRAM availability, and cost pressures are increasingly shaping infrastructure decisions.

4. Cost Transparency Built Into the Platform

Private cloud economics are increasingly under scrutiny. VCF 9 integrates:

• Chargeback and showback capabilities
• Capacity planning and optimization insights
• Cost allocation across tenants
• Predictive modeling for infrastructure scaling

According to VMware’s internal cloud economics analysis, organizations may be even able to achieve:

40% cost reduction compared to native public cloud alternatives

Again, results vary by environment, but cost predictability is a core advantage of modern private cloud operating models.

5. Security, Sovereignty, and Governance by Design

VCF 9 reinforces security as a built-in platform layer:

• Centralized identity federation
• Certificate lifecycle management
• Compliance monitoring
• Integrated security operations visibility
• VPC-aware segmentation

This matters for regulated industries and sovereign cloud environments, where operational consistency and policy enforcement are not optional.

Private cloud becomes less about “location” and more about operating model: governance is embedded into infrastructure.

6. What This Means for OVHcloud Customers

VMware Cloud Foundation 9 is also changing how service providers design managed environments.

To align with the domain-based architecture and lifecycle model introduced in VCF 9, OVHcloud is developing a new offer: Private VMware Cloud Foundation as-a-Service.

Key elements include:

• VCF license portability to OVHcloud
• Enforced Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies (avoiding local user models)
• Pre-configured vSAN hosts within cluster designs
• Seamless maintenance window scheduling
• Roadmap including 1-AZ and 3-AZ stretched cluster versions (currently in Alpha for business-critical workloads)

It’s important to distinguish:

• VCF provides the unified platform. OVHcloud builds the managed operational framework around it.
• The goal is not just to run VCF 9, but to operationalize it cleanly, and at scale.

A Strategic Version, Not a Cosmetic One

VMware Cloud Foundation 9 marks a fundamental shift:

• From component integration to unified platform
• From manual lifecycle orchestration to fleet-wide automation
• From infrastructure provisioning to cloud consumption models
• From siloed tooling to consolidated operations

For infrastructure architects and CTOs, this version matters because it reduces friction across the entire private cloud lifecycle.

Less manual intervention.
More deterministic upgrades.
Better resource efficiency.
Stronger governance.

And for managed service customers, it means a private cloud that behaves like a cloud, but under your control.

VCF 9 is becoming the new private cloud platform built to meet modern demands head-on. Super, by design.

Find out more about VMware on OVHcloud: https://www.ovhcloud.com/en-ie/solutions/vmware/

Join the Alpha and be the first to test Private VMware Cloud Foundation as-a-Service: https://survey.ovh.com/index.php/547617?lang=en

Since autumn 2025, the global memory market has been going through a major disruption. Although barely noticeable to end users, these developments are radically changing the cost of computer hardware and, as a direct result, the cost of the cloud.

This article will decipher this structural crisis, its real-life impacts, and the strategic choices that OVHcloud is implementing to mitigate its effects.

An industrial shift towards GPUs

Globally, the three major memory manufacturers have redirected a significant portion of their production capacity to meet the massive demand for GPUs, particularly for AI-related and high-bandwidth computing applications.

This reallocation took place without a corresponding reduction in the historical demand for RAM and storage, generating pressure on several market segments simultaneously.

The consequences of this were immediate and noticeable:

• pressure on supply, with reduced stock and extended lead times
• continuous rise in RAM and disk prices since September 2025
• long-term market instability, which is not expected to find a new balance until late 2026

A sustained inflation of memory components

Even after the market stabilises, prices are not expected to return to their historical levels before 2028, the amount of time needed for new production capacities to become truly operational.

This development profoundly disrupts the economic fundamentals of computer hardware, both for on-premises infrastructures and for the cloud. Depending on configurations, the prices related to RAM and storage could increase by 15% to 300% compared to 2025 prices, depending on the volumes of memory and disk capacity deployed.

This change of scale is both abrupt and unprecedented, with no recent equivalent in the global market.

A market under pressure, even with higher prices

Paradoxically, the rise in prices is not enough to secure the availability of components. Currently, to guarantee the delivery of their desired volume of RAM or disks, cloud providers need to order up to 12 months in advance, without being told the final price at the time of purchase.

In practice, prices are only communicated one to two months after delivery, depending on the changes in supply and demand during the quarter in question. This uncertainty places unprecedented pressure on industry players and cloud providers, simultaneously affecting production and distribution.

Towards a new global balance of demand

This situation will inevitably have repercussions on the volumes ordered. Some customers will find the prices too high and limit their investments, while others, lacking alternatives, will continue to place orders regardless.

This interplay of opposing forces should lead to a new global balance, but at a significantly higher price point. Current projections anticipate a 250% to 300% increase in the price of RAM by the end of 2026, compared to September 2025.

Our strategy to soften the blow

In light of this reality, OVHcloud has chosen not to automatically pass on the entire price increase of components to its customers.

For the cloud deployed between 2026 and 2028 (including Public Cloud, Private Cloud, and Bare Metal), the average price increase will be limited – between 9% and 11% – despite significantly higher RAM and disk costs.

To offset this gap, a moderate increase of 2% to 6% is planned for solutions deployed before 2025, depending on the age of the equipment, as well as a change in IPv4 pricing. The latter should not have a significant impact on our customers’ budgets, as the cost of IP addresses is a small share compared to other resources in a cloud project.

Our objective is clear: to maintain pricing consistency across the entire range from 2021 to 2028, and to prepare for a gradual return to normal in 2029.

Continuous investments and developing solutions

Beyond pricing adjustments, this period will be characterised by sustained investments in our solutions and in the customer experience.

Despite the strong pressure from rising component costs, we are continuing to develop our services to provide more value to our customers.

In practical terms, this will result in:

• a gradual strengthening of support mechanisms
• an increase in resources included in certain ranges
• a modernization of our computing and storage infrastructures

These initiatives demonstrate our commitment to not reduce this period to merely a consequence of cost increases, but to maintain a dynamic of improving our services, even in a constrained economic context.

Time frame and implementation procedures

Our clients have already received emails detailing the precise impacts on their services. The new prices will come into effect on 1 April 2026.

Until that date, it is possible to renew services at the current rates for a duration of up to 2 years. In all cases, the new prices will only apply at the end of the current contractual period.

A time of uncertainty and a strategic advantage

We are going through an exceptionally unpredictable period, where market visibility rarely lasts longer than one to two weeks. There remains hope that prices will stabilize on a long-term basis from 2026, so that we can avoid further unfavorable announcements.
In this tense context, having a global supply chain and two internal production facilities is a major strategic advantage. This allows us to continue receiving components and producing servers, while the memory shortage affects a large part of the market.

Our Prices

You will find below our new pricing:
– Public Cloud: Prices below are displayed on an hourly basis and with Linux OS. Please, find on our Prices web page our monthly-consumed virtual machine instances (b2, c2, r2) and Savings Plan options (b3, c3, r3) as well as prices with Windows licences.
– All our VPS, Floating IPs, and Additional IP pricing.
– Bare Metal: The displayed prices correspond to a 1-month commitment; additional discounts apply for 12- or 24-month prepayments. The prices for options are for new orders only. The renewal of options, which has been communicated by email to our customers, will be limited to +10% for disk options and +15% for RAM options.

For existing subscriptions renewed before April 1st, you can secure your current pricing for the full duration of the commitment you choose, effective from your renewal date.

Please note that the following product categories are not affected by our pricing evolution:
– Public Cloud – Compute : Cloud GPUs and Metal Instances
– Public Cloud – Container : Managed Kubernetes, Managed Registries & Managed Rancher
– Public Cloud – Network : Load Balancer, Gateway. Public and Private network traffic remains included.
– Public Cloud – Storage : Object Storage, Block Storage.
– Public Cloud – Analytics : Data Platform
– Public Cloud – AI & Machine Learning : AI Solutions (AI Notebook, AI Training, AI Deploy) and AI Endpoints
– Public Cloud – Quantum : Emulators & QPUs
– Bare Metal : Kimsufi et SoYouStart ranges
– Bare Metal : All storage (Veeam Enterprise plus, HYCU, Back-up Agent, NAS-HA, Cloud Disk Array)
– Private Cloud : All VMware offers, all storage offers (Veeam Enterprise plus, HYCU, Back-up Agent)

Un basculement industriel vers les GPU

À l’échelle mondiale, les trois grands fabricants de mémoire ont réorienté une part importante de leurs capacités de production pour répondre à la demande massive en GPU, en particulier pour les usages liés à l’IA et au calcul haute performance.

Cette réallocation s’est effectuée sans réduction équivalente de la demande historique en mémoire vive et en stockage, générant une pression simultanée sur plusieurs segments du marché.

Les conséquences sont immédiates et visibles :

• tension sur l’offre, avec des stocks réduits et des délais d’approvisionnement allongés ;
• hausse continue des prix de la RAM et des disques depuis septembre 2025 ;
• instabilité durable du marché, qui ne devrait retrouver un nouvel équilibre qu’à l’horizon fin 2026.

Une inflation durable des composants mémoire

Même après la stabilisation du marché, les prix ne devraient pas retrouver leurs niveaux historiques avant 2028, le temps nécessaire pour que de nouvelles capacités de production soient réellement opérationnelles.

Cette évolution bouleverse profondément les fondamentaux économiques du matériel informatique, tant pour les infrastructures on-premise que pour le cloud. Selon les configurations, l’impact tarifaire lié à la RAM et au stockage pourrait atteindre +15 % à +300 % par rapport aux prix de 2025, en fonction des volumes de mémoire et de capacité disque déployés.

Ce changement d’échelle est à la fois brutal et inédit, sans équivalent récent sur le marché mondial.

Un marché sous tension même à prix élevé

Paradoxalement, la hausse des prix ne suffit pas à sécuriser la disponibilité des composants. Aujourd’hui, pour garantir la livraison de volumes de RAM ou de disques, il est nécessaire pour les fournisseurs de cloud de passer commande jusqu’à 12 mois à l’avance, sans connaître le prix final au moment de l’achat.

En pratique, les tarifs ne sont communiqués qu’un à deux mois après la livraison, selon l’évolution de l’offre et de la demande sur le trimestre concerné. Cette incertitude exerce une pression inédite sur les acteurs industriels et les fournisseurs de cloud, affectant simultanément la production et la distribution.

Vers un nouvel équilibre mondial de la demande

Cette situation aura inévitablement des répercussions sur les volumes commandés. Certains clients jugeront les prix trop élevés et limiteront leurs investissements, tandis que d’autres, faute d’alternative, continueront à passer commande malgré tout.

Ce jeu de forces opposées devrait conduire à un nouvel équilibre mondial, mais à un niveau de prix nettement supérieur. Les projections actuelles anticipent une augmentation de la RAM de +250 % à +300 % à la fin 2026, par rapport à septembre 2025.

Notre stratégie pour amortir le choc

Face à cette réalité, OVHcloud a choisi de ne pas répercuter automatiquement l’intégralité de la hausse des composants sur ses clients.

Pour le cloud déployé entre 2026 et 2028 — incluant le Public Cloud, le Private Cloud et le Bare Metal — l’augmentation moyenne des prix sera limitée, entre +9 % et +11 %, malgré des coûts de RAM et de disques nettement plus élevés.

Pour compenser cet écart, un ajustement modéré est prévu sur les offres déployées avant 2025, de +2 % à +6 %, en fonction de l’ancienneté du matériel, ainsi qu’une évolution des tarifs des IPv4. Cette dernière ne devrait pas avoir d’impact significatif sur le budget de nos clients, le coût des adresses IP représentant une part limitée par rapport aux autres ressources d’un projet cloud.

Notre objectif est clair : préserver une cohérence tarifaire sur l’ensemble des gammes 2021-2028 et préparer un retour progressif à la normale en 2029.

Investissements continus et évolution des offres

Au-delà des ajustements tarifaires, cette période se caractérise par des investissements soutenus dans nos offres et dans l’expérience client.

Malgré la forte pression liée à l’augmentation des coûts des composants, nous continuons à faire évoluer nos services afin d’apporter davantage de valeur à nos clients.

Concrètement, cela se traduit par :

• un renforcement progressif des dispositifs de support ;
• une augmentation des ressources incluses dans certaines gammes ;
• une modernisation de nos infrastructures de calcul et de stockage.

Ces initiatives témoignent de notre volonté de ne pas réduire cette phase à une simple répercussion des hausses de coûts, mais de maintenir une dynamique d’amélioration de nos services, même dans un contexte économique contraint.

Calendrier et modalités d’application

Nos clients ont déjà reçu des emails détaillant les impacts précis sur leurs services. Les nouveaux tarifs seront appliqués à compter du 1^er avril 2026.

Jusqu’à cette date, il est possible de renouveler les services aux tarifs actuels pour une durée pouvant aller jusqu’à 2 ans. Dans tous les cas, les nouveaux prix ne s’appliqueront qu’à l’issue de la période d’engagement en cours.

Une période d’incertitude et un avantage stratégique

Nous traversons une phase exceptionnellement imprévisible, où la visibilité sur les marchés dépasse rarement une à deux semaines. L’espoir demeure que les prix se stabilisent durablement dès 2026, afin d’éviter de nouvelles annonces défavorables.

Dans ce contexte tendu, disposer d’une chaîne d’approvisionnement mondiale et de deux usines de production internes constitue un avantage stratégique majeur. Cela nous permet de continuer à recevoir des composants et à produire des serveurs, là où la pénurie de mémoire touche une grande partie du marché.

Nos tarifs

Vous trouverez ci-dessous nos nouveaux tarifs :
– Public Cloud : les prix ci-dessous sont affichés à l’heure et avec OS Linux. Vous trouverez sur notre page Tarifs les prix des instances de machines virtuelle consommées au mois (b2, c2, r2) ou en Savings Plan (b3, c3, r3) ainsi que les tarifs avec licences Windows.
– Tous nos tarifs VPS, Floating IPs & IP additionnelles.
– Bare Metal : les prix affichés correspondent à un engagement d’un mois ; des remises supplémentaires sont appliquées en cas de prépaiement sur 12 ou 24 mois. Les prix des options sont ceux des nouvelles commandes uniquement. Le renouvellement d’options qui a été communiqué par email à nos clients sera quant à lui limité à +10% sur les options de disques, +15% sur les options de RAM.

Pour toutes les souscriptions existantes renouvelées avant le 1er avril, vous pouvez conserver votre tarif actuel pendant toute la durée d’engagement choisie, à compter de votre date de renouvellement.

Veuillez noter que les catégories de produits suivantes ne sont pas concernées par l’évolution de nos tarifs :
– Public Cloud – Compute : Cloud GPUs et Metal Instances
– Public Cloud – Container : Managed Kubernetes, Managed Registries & Managed Rancher
– Public Cloud – Network : Load Balancer, Gateway. Le trafic réseau Public et Privé reste inclus.
– Public Cloud – Storage : Object Storage, Block Storage.
– Public Cloud – Analytics : Data Platform
– Public Cloud – AI & Machine Learning : AI Solutions (AI Notebook, AI Training, AI Deploy) et AI Endpoints
– Public Cloud – Quantum : Emulators & QPUs
– Bare Metal – stockage : Veeam Enterprise Plus, HYCU, Back-up Agent, NAS-HA, Cloud Disk Array
– Bare Metal : Gammes Kimsufi et SoYouStart
– Private Cloud : offres VMware et offres de stockage (Veeam Enterprise plus, HYCU, Back-up Agent)