VMware by Broadcom: Product, service and support news

News of Broadcom’s plans to acquire VMware triggered concerns among customers, partners, and industry watchers, many of whom recalled Broadcom’s track record with prior high-profile acquisitions, including network switching vendor Brocade in 2016 for almost $6 billion, software firm CA Technologies in 2018 for $19 billion, and Symantec’s enterprise security business in 2019 for $10 billion. So far, the $60 billion Broadcom-VMware deal has led to some layoffs, VMware licensing changes, production rationalizations, shifts to the partner program, and a lawsuit filed by AT&T against Broadcom. Competitors are claiming some success in attracting VM defectors, though analysts aren’t reporting widespread migrations.

We’ve tracked the saga since Broadcom first announced plans to acquire VMware in May 2022. Here’s a record of what has transpired so far, plus the latest news and analysis.

Broadcom hits back at AT&T in VMware support dispute

Sept. 23, 2024: Broadcom has fired back in the ongoing legal dispute with AT&T over VMware software support services, claiming that AT&T is resorting to “sensationalism” and had long intended to stop using VMware software but delayed the move. In a new court filing, Broadcom alleges that AT&T’s lawsuit is an attempt to secure more time to transition to other software while still receiving discounted support services, which Broadcom has already phased out for perpetual license holders.

AT&T sues Broadcom over breach of contract, cites threat to national security

Sept. 5, 2024: AT&T is suing Broadcom over its strong-armed handling of VMware support contracts. “Broadcom is attempting to retroactively alter existing agreements, forcing us into purchasing hundreds of millions of dollars in bundled services,” AT&T stated in a lawsuit it filed against Broadcom in New York’s Supreme Court. “Without the support services, AT&T cannot prevent software errors, security vulnerabilities, or system outages that routinely occur.”

Broadcom’s vision for VMware highlights private clouds, private AI

Aug. 30, 2024: “The future of the enterprise, your enterprises, is private,” said Broadcom president and CEO Hock Tan in a keynote address at this year’s VMware Explore conference. “Private cloud. Private AI. Fueled by your own private data. It’s about staying on-prem and in control. “

Customer concerns loom as VMware Explore event approaches

Aug. 19, 2024: This year’s VMware Explore marks the first time for the flagship customer event since Broadcom finalized its acquisition of VMware last November. Enterprise customers have questions about VMware’s future direction, licensing changes, and product roadmap following Broadcom’s takeover. Customers want to continue to see innovation across the VMware portfolio, says one analyst. They also want to see Broadcom focus on integration, interface design, and an easier adoption path. 

Broadcom distrust drives sales for VMware competition

Aug. 14, 2024: Concerns about the new direction VMware is taking are driving some enterprise customers to consider alternative platforms from vendors such as Scale Computing, Nutanix and Oxide Computer. Scale Computing said in its most recent quarterly earnings announcement that sales have taken off and its new customers have doubled over the past year, thanks in part to Broadcom’s changes to VMware sales operations.

Nutanix hunts disgruntled VMware customers

July 01, 2024: Nutanix began aggressively courting VMware customers who might be open to jumping ship in the wake of VMware’s purchase by Broadcom and some of the unpopular moves that followed. In addition, Nutanix recently signed key partnerships with some unlikely on-and-off competitors: Dell, Cisco and HPE. 

Broadcom tosses VMware users a bone, extends vSphere 7 support six months

July 25, 2024: Broadcom has announced that VMware vSphere 7.x users will get six additional months of support for the product. VMware vSphere 7, which was launched in 2020, was scheduled to go out of support in April 2025 but will now be maintained until October 2025.

Broadcom bolsters VMware Edge Compute Stack

June 26, 2024: A slew of updates in VMware ECS 3.5 are aimed at helping customers more easily manage edge devices, applications, and infrastructure across multiple locations. Updates include zero-touch orchestration capabilities, pull-based architecture, and edge fleet management.

European trade body lashes out at Broadcom’s VMware licensing changes

April 23, 2024: Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE) strongly criticized Broadcom’s response to concerns regarding its licensing changes. The trade organization said the economic viability of many cloud services utilized by customers in Europe is threatened by “the massive and unjustifiable hikes in prices, the re-bundling of products, the altered basis of billing.”

Broadcom changes VMware pricing amid customer backlash and EU questioning

April 16, 2024: Licensing changes include a standardization of the metric for pricing offerings across cloud providers to per-core licensing – the same metric used in end-customer licensing. Meanwhile, Broadcom President and CEO Hock Tan pledged support to customers and clarified how the company would offer VMware products and support going forward.

Broadcom repackages VMware SASE, adds Symantec security

Feb. 27, 2024: Broadcom revived the VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN branding and tied that technology with Broadcom’s Symantec Enterprise Cloud security service edge offering to create its single-vendor SASE package. 

Broadcom sells VMware end-user computing unit to KKR for $4 billion

Feb. 26, 2024: Broadcom signed an agreement to sell its end-user computing unit to investment firm KKR for $4 billion. KKR said the EUC division will become a standalone company run by its existing management team and led by Shankar Iyer.

Broadcom moves roil VMware customer base

Jan. 22, 2024: While Broadcom’s actions are causing concern among VMware users, these decisions have not been completely unexpected based on the company’s track record with its prior acquisitions of CA and Symantec. There’s no rush to the exits yet, but VMware customers are investigating alternatives as the Broadcom era begins.

Broadcom’s VMware alterations include layoffs, changes to partner programs

Jan. 05, 2024: Steven Elliot, group vice president of infrastructure software at IDC, said the layoffs and consolidation are a good and necessary thing. He noted that Broadcom is not only cutting staff but also cutting products to focus on core competency.

Broadcom to lay off over 1,200 VMware employees as deal closes

Dec. 01, 2023: In a filing with the California Employment Development Department, Broadcom announced plans to lay off 1,267 VMware employees in January 2024.

VMware stung by defections and layoffs after Broadcom close

Nov. 30, 2023: Layoffs are inevitable after an acquisition as companies deal with overlap and redundancy. But on top of that, VMware lost its No. 2 executive: Sumit Dhawan, president of the company since 2021, left the firm to become the new CEO of cybersecurity vendor Proofpoint. Outside the company, there’s concern about customer retention.

China clears Broadcom’s $69 billion VMware acquisition, allowing deal to close

Nov. 21, 2023: Five days before the two companies’ merger agreement was due to expire, the deal passed its final regulatory hurdle. China cleared Broadcom’s $69 billion acquisition of VMware, leaving the two companies free to close the transaction on November 22.

Generative AI dominates VMware Explore news

Aug. 25, 2023: There were some cloud announcements at VMware Explore 2023 in Las Vegas, but AI was the star, as it has been at nearly every tech company lately. Vendors have been rushing to add generative AI to their platforms, and VMware is no exception.

UK competition agency provisionally OKs Broadcom’s $61 billion VMware acquisition

July 19, 2023: The UK’s Competition Market Authority (CMA) provisionally cleared Broadcom’s proposed acquisition of VMWare, paving the way for the $61 billion deal to go ahead. The clearance followed an investigation by the CMA, which looked into whether the proposed merger would harm the ability of Broadcom’s rivals to compete with VMware’s server virtualization software.

Broadcom CEO pledges $2 billion for VMware R&D, professional services support

May 05, 2023: Broadcom said it will spend $2 billion a year to accelerate research and development for VMware products and services. “As a part of Broadcom, VMware will have more resources and scale to support the number of customers that want its technology and services, and help customers deploy it more than it was able to as a standalone company,” Broadcom CEO Hock Tan wrote in a blog post.

Broadcom, VMware extend deadline to complete acquisition by 90 days

Feb. 20, 2023: Broadcom and its acquisition target VMware agreed to give themselves another 90 days to complete the $61 billion acquisition they announced on May 26, 2022. A regulatory filing by VMware showed that both companies had delivered a mutual notice to extend the final date of the merger to twelve months from the day the deal was announced.

UK competition agency launches inquiry into Broadcom’s $61B VMware buy

Nov. 21, 2022: The UK’s Competition and Market’s Authority (CMA) announced its investigation of Broadcom’s proposed acquisition of VMware, looking into whether the proposed merger “may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition within any market or markets in the United Kingdom for goods or services.”

Broadcom’s VMware acquisition sparks concern

Sept. 22, 2022: In light of Broadcom’s less-than-stellar track record with prior acquisitions, VMware’s enterprise customers are understandably worried. “Following the purchases of CA and Symantec, Broadcom raised prices, decreased support, and stopped investing in innovation,” said Tracy Woo, senior analyst for Forrester. “VMware customers would be wise to have an exit plan.”

Why it makes sense for Broadcom to buy VMware

July 04, 2022: Broadcom’s chips plus VMware software could be the bridge that connects applications in data centers with the cloud, said Network World columnist Tom Nolle.

Can Broadcom + VMware move enterprise networking forward?

May 26, 2022: Industry watchers suggested that Broadcom’s planned acquisition of VMware could open opportunities to reach enterprise and telco companies with innovative technology. Some questioned whether Broadcom would let VMware further develop tools for 5G, software-defined networking (SDN), and other technologies.

Broadcom targets enterprise infrastructure with $61 billion VMware acquisition

May 25, 2022: The Broadcom-VMware saga kicked off when the semiconductor manufacturer and infrastructure software giant first announced plans to acquire the virtualization and enterprise cloud vendor in a deal worth roughly $61 billion in stock and cash.