1. An article of manufacture comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer readable instructions tangibly embodied thereon which, when implemented, cause a computer to carry out a plurality of method steps comprising: obtaining documentation of at least one performance parameter of two or more virtual machines running on two or more physical machines; obtaining a request for a virtual machine exchange from a user of a first virtual machine, wherein the request comprises a preference for at least one desired performance parameter in at least one additional virtual machine; matching the request from the user of the first virtual machine with at least one additional virtual machine that includes the at least one desired performance parameter; and exchanging the first virtual machine with a virtual machine from the at least one additional virtual machine that includes the at least one desired performance parameter without assistance from a cloud provider; wherein at least one of the steps is carried out by a computer device.