Digital infrastructure strategy has become a game of adaptation, flexibility and scalability—and in 2026, it’s fundamentally changing the way mid-enterprise organizations approach cloud virtualization.
Disruptive changes driven by Broadcom have introduced new uncertainties to the future of private cloud. As organizations are increasingly priced out of an ever-exclusive program, many are rethinking virtualization altogether. Instead of chasing replacements that mirror legacy models, they’re moving toward open cloud platforms anchored by purpose-built, highly accessible data centers.
At ValorC3, we believe the data center is the heartbeat of an organization’s digital resilience. As private cloud is redefined and enterprise ecosystems expand, open cloud platforms are emerging as a transformational alternative—one that preserves control without sacrificing performance, resilience or scale.
The Future Is Open
Operators understand the tradeoffs of hyperscale and on-prem cloud. They’ve lived through vendor lock-in, unpredictable egress fees, inflexible architectures and black-box performance. What they’re not looking for is a one-for-one replacement for VMware.
At Gartner IOCS 2025, Platform9—Valor’s partner for our upcoming cloud launch—spoke with infrastructure leaders across industries to learn what they really want from their cloud. The message was consistent: organizations want integration with the tools they already use, a familiar VM management experience, flexible high-availability options, automated workload balancing, multi-tenancy, self-service capabilities and guided, low-risk migration strategies. Explore more of Platform9’s cloud insights from Gartner here.
Open cloud platforms are designed to deliver exactly that.
At their core, open cloud architectures provide a consistent virtualization layer that can operate across private cloud, public cloud and on-site infrastructure—without forcing organizations into a single vendor or operating model. Key advantages include:
- Workload freedom across private, public and on-site environments
- Transparent economics without surprise charges for accessing your own data
- Interoperability with existing enterprise systems and tools
- Rapid deployment without the operational weight of hyperscale complexity
- Security models aligned to business requirements—not one-size-fits-all policies
For mid-market enterprises operating at meaningful infrastructure scale, open cloud delivers real choice without compromising operational excellence.
The Infrastructure Gap: Why “Open” Matters More Than Ever
In Valor’s own conversations with clients, one theme is unmistakable: there is a growing class of enterprises whose power, density and availability requirements sit beyond traditional colocation—but fall outside the economic and operational logic of hyperscale cloud.
These organizations have enterprise-grade infrastructure demands, yet they still require agility, cost transparency and hands-on partnership—capabilities hyperscale providers are structurally unable to deliver. At the same time, traditional colocation alone no longer satisfies the performance, orchestration and availability expectations of modern workloads.
This creates a widening gap.
Open cloud platforms fill that gap by combining the reliability of high-availability data centers with the flexibility and operational simplicity of cloud. Whether supporting AI workloads, geographic expansion or a distributed workforce, these architectures are built for frictionless, 24/7/365 data accessibility.
Workloads live where they perform best. Data moves with the business. Infrastructure exists to support evolution—not dictate it.
Coming Soon: A Client-Driven Open Cloud Platform
As enterprises redefine their digital ecosystems, the winners will be those who embrace flexibility, interoperability and transparency. While cloud strategies will differ from organization to organization, one reality is clear: leaders want performance and flexibility without surrendering control to hyperscalers.
That’s why Valor has been investing in a next-generation open cloud platform with our new partners at Platform9, set to launch in Q2 of 2026, with expanded capabilities rolling through 2026.
This solution is designed to deliver familiar virtualization architecture with the critical capabilities required to run VMs and containers at scale—backed by partners who are focused on long-term client success, not platform lock-in.
The future of cloud isn’t hyperscale or legacy private infrastructure. It’s purpose-built, open architecture that starts and ends with client needs—not provider limitations.
Stay tuned. The next evolution of accessible, client-driven cloud is coming.