CIOs seek to reduce or halt cloud spending per Venture Beat

DRAM is up 171%. Flash jumped 55–60%. Will hard drives solve the flash and memory supercycle? The short answer is no — and here's what actually does.

DRAM prices are up 171% year-over-year. Proprietary enterprise flash is on backorder. VMware licensing changes are compounding the pain. Here is why a storage refresh in 2026 costs more than ever — and what IT teams can do about it.

The Memory and Flash Supercycle raised the bar on what a VMware alternative must deliver. The right hypervisor does not just cost less to license — it must reduce RAM consumption per host, require fewer servers, and lower flash storage costs.