Broadcom Isn't Done Axing VMware Customers

Well, it appears that the new owners of VMware are not done settling down yet. After dropping the hammer on customers of the perpetual licenses, Broadcom is now all set to alienate another part of the longstanding cloud computing business.

This time, it is the VMware Cloud Services Provider program seeing a radical change that will see many affected, and even lose business if they are not deemed worthy of an invitation by Broadcom. 🤦‍♂️

Suggested Read 📖

VMware's Cloud Services Providers are Facing the Axe

Spotted first by the astute vultures over at The Register, it has come to light that Broadcom is completely closing down the VMware Cloud Services Provider program by the end of April 2024.

This was already coming, as earlier, they also ended VMware's Partner program, which would see only a handful of partners being invited to the Broadcom Advantage Partner Program instead.

And according to sources, the qualifying criteria for those partners is at least $500,000 or more in annual revenue for them to keep their partner status.

Now, a similar fate has come knocking for the many cloud services providers who received a cryptic letter that said:

Effective April 30, 2024, the ability to transact as a VMware Cloud Services Provider, under the VMware Partner Connect Program, will come to an end.

However, we want to emphasize that you may have the opportunity to join the Broadcom Expert Advantage Partner Program. This invite-only program has simpler requirements and offers expanded benefits, and we will begin inviting partners to join in early 2024.

But, the thing is, Broadcom has not been clear as to who will be invited into the program and on what basis. Many are concerned that smaller cloud service providers will be pushed out due to this move, as there is no clarity on the so-called “simpler requirements”.

Even the cloud service providers are in a dizzy, one such provider was still trying to get their heads wrapped around this; mentioned the following to The Register:

How can they just cancel a major program affecting hundreds, perhaps thousands of customers, with zero notice, and zero details?

They sent the notices out the Friday before the holidays, with no follow-up, which makes the situation even more egregious.

That does look bad, and Broadcom's recent handling of VMware has not necessarily been good, many have been switching to alternative services such as Proxmox and MicroCloud to avoid getting caught out surprised down the line.

Psst, here's a handy free learning resource for Proxmox 🤓

If you are one of the providers affected by this, you can either head over to the Broadcom Partner portal or go through their FAQ page for more information regarding the changes.

There has been no official word by Broadcom or VMware on this matter as of writing, I sincerely hope that they clarify what existing partners should expect from this.

A Bad Move for Small Cloud Providers

This move is going to rub many the wrong way. If the above is taken as any indication, then many small cloud providers will most likely get the boot from this special invite-only Broadcom partners club.

These smaller establishments might have to sign up with the ones who have an invitation if they intend to continue serving their customers. Many have already raised questions over how anticompetitive this move could be, and I share their speculation.

Even Reddit is up and about with this thread already having some very interesting comments. Some people believe that this acquisition was always going to have an ugly ending.

💬 What do you think of this? Will Broadcom stop at this, or push for more aggressive moves such as this?