From March 23–26, the OpenNebula Systems team joined thousands of cloud and infrastructure leaders at CloudFest 2026, held at Europa-Park in Germany, one of the largest global gatherings shaping the future of the internet economy.

Across four intense days of conversations, demos, and panels, one thing became clear: the cloud industry is entering a new operational phase—where sovereignty, cost control, and AI readiness are no longer differentiators, but requirements.

On the Ground: Booth Conversations and Industry Exchange

At booth R37, OpenNebula Systems engaged with a wide range of stakeholders—from service providers and enterprises to technology partners—exploring how organizations are rethinking their cloud strategies in response to growing operational and regulatory pressures.

The conversations were highly focused and pragmatic, with organizations actively evaluating alternatives to legacy virtualization platforms, while showing a growing demand for simpler, more cost-efficient cloud operations and a strong interest in sovereign, open cloud architectures.

CloudFest continues to stand out as a business-first event, combining technical depth with real commercial conversations across a global ecosystem of infrastructure players.

Taking the Stage: Rethinking Infrastructure Virtualization

OpenNebula also contributed to the broader industry dialogue through a panel session “Infrastructure Virtualisation: VMware, Open Source and What Comes Next.”

The discussion brought together industry experts to explore how virtualization is evolving in response to growing cost pressures, shifting vendor dynamics, and the increasing demand for flexibility. A key theme throughout the session was the accelerating momentum behind open source alternatives, as organizations look to regain control over their infrastructure while avoiding long-term lock-in.

Panelists also addressed the practical realities of moving beyond VMware, highlighting that migration is no longer a theoretical consideration but an active priority for many enterprises and service providers. At the same time, virtualization was framed not just as a foundational layer, but as a strategic enabler for modern workloads, including AI and distributed cloud environments.

Ready to move beyond legacy virtualization? Discover how OpenNebula enables a cost-effective, flexible, and vendor-neutral alternative to VMware, with built-in migration tools and enterprise-grade capabilities designed to simplify operations and reduce lock-in here.

From Experimentation to Execution

CloudFest 2026 highlighted a clear shift in the market: organizations are moving beyond experimentation toward execution. Infrastructure decisions are increasingly driven by operational sustainability, with a strong focus on cost efficiency, simplification, and avoiding vendor lock-in.

This is happening alongside the rise of sovereign cloud as a core strategic priority, particularly in Europe, where organizations are seeking greater control over their data, operations, and technology stack.

At the same time, the move away from VMware is accelerating, with many organizations actively pursuing alternatives that enable more flexible and cost-effective operations. In parallel, AI is no longer just about access to GPUs, the focus is now on running real workloads efficiently across hybrid and distributed environments.

Together, these trends point to a broader industry transformation: a shift toward infrastructure that is open, sovereign, and fully ready for production-scale AI.

Looking Ahead

CloudFest 2026 reinforced a clear industry shift: organizations are moving beyond experimentation toward infrastructure strategies that prioritize control, efficiency, and real-world performance. As these priorities continue to evolve, OpenNebula remains focused on enabling a more open, sovereign, and AI-ready cloud, built for the demands of what comes next.

Looking to future-proof your cloud stack? With the latest release, OpenNebula delivers a unified platform to replace VMware, build sovereign clouds, and power AI-ready infrastructure—all with simplicity and full control at its core. Learn more here.

OneNext 2026 re:Virtualize

As the industry moves beyond legacy stacks, OneNext 2026 brings together leaders defining the next generation of sovereign enterprise clouds and AI factories.

Join us in Brussels from April 28–30 with speakers from the European Commission, SUSE, Canonical, and HashiCorp. Seats are filling fast. Get your OneNext pass at onenext.io.

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