{
  "id": 5304117,
  "title": "Spurs boots VMware, cites 85% licensing saving",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/03/spurs-boots-vmware-cites-85-licensing-saving-5304117",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-09-03T10:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Register Science",
    "slug": "the-register-science",
    "url": "https://www.theregister.com/on-prem/2026/09/03/spurs-boots-vmware-cites-85-licensing-saving/5294139"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Tottenham Hotspur football club has discontinued its use of VMware as part of a datacenter and network refresh, resulting in over 85% savings on licensing costs. However, the club's Chief Technology Officer (CTO) emphasizes that the decision was not solely financial. The football club, which has nearly 63,000 seats, is in the final stages of overhauling its technology infrastructure inside its White Hart Lane stadium in north London. The stadium features more than 1,650 Wi-Fi access points, 840+ under-seat access points, 700 Bluetooth beacons, 20,000 network access points, 1,849 IPTV screens, and 519 CCTV cameras.\n\nCTO Rob Pickering revealed that the club has transitioned to the HPE GreenLake portfolio, supported by OpsRamp and Morpheus (VM Essentials) for server, storage, and networking. HPE will run a hybrid cloud managed service. The datacenter has been upgraded to ProLiant Compute Gen12 servers and HPE Alletra storage MP, with connectivity upgraded to WiFi 7 and HPE Aruba Central featuring self-driving capabilities.\n\nPickering explained that the savings were a significant factor in the decision, estimating around 85% reduction in licensing costs. Broadcom's acquisition of VMware has led to discontinuation of standalone products, with pricing often increasing regardless of usage. The club views virtualization as a commodity, and having it connected into an operation stack that their team can work from is more valuable than the cost savings from switching vendors. The club's small tech team finds AI operations crucial for proactive fault detection and remediation without human intervention.\n\nThe technology upgrade in the stadium is challenging due to its 365-day operation, with up to 30,000 fans using the Wi-Fi during games. The stadium is a Faraday cage, making RF signal transmission difficult. Pickering highlighted the physical and radio engineering challenges of installing over 1,800 access points across the stadium. Despite recent Premier League losses, the club's technology upgrades may be yielding better returns than its recent transfer spending.",
  "summary": "Part of wider infrastructure replacement upgrade project with HPE",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Register",
        "title": "Spurs boots VMware, cites 85% licensing saving",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/03/spurs-boots-vmware-cites-85-licensing-saving",
        "published": "2026-09-03T10:00:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}