VMware is making it easier for organizations to migrate to its software with a new initiative that aims to address both the technical and financial barriers to moving off rivaling offerings. Safe Passage, as the program is known, is designed to drive adoption of its core end-point products: the Horizon suite of desktop virtualization and remote application delivery tools, and the mobile device management (MDM) portfolio it obtained through the acquisition of AirWatch earlier this year.

Upon signing up to Safe Passage, organizations receive access to a number of tools meant to streamline the switch. The bundle includes an “upgrade kit” to the latest version of Horizon and a migration utility designed specifically for Citrix XenDesktop users that is available on-premise or as a service, according to a blog post by Erik Frieberg, the vice president of marketing for VMware’s end-user computing business.

To top it all off, the virtualization stalwart is promising to match the support pricing of the solution from which the customer is migrating for the first three years. The offer, which applies to the Advanced and Enterprise editions of Horizon 6, is designed to help CIOs justify replacing their existing infrastructure by making the transition look much cleaner on the balance sheet than it normally would.

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