Broadcom launches new SMB-friendly VMware subscription tier - but is it too little too late?

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VMware has new subscription options for businesses

VMware
(Image credit: Ferran Rodenas / Flickr)
  • Broadcom acknowledges “strong customer momentum” for VCF and VVF
  • VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus and Standard subscriptions available
  • Too little, too late? This comes 12 months after the Broadcom takeover

Just days short of the one-year anniversary of Broadcom’s wildly controversial takeover of VMware, the company is now looking to offer more cost-effective options for small businesses that were previously priced out of the virtualization giant’s revised pricing structure.

After it transitioned to a subscription-only model, Broadcom VP of Product Marketing Prashanth Shenoy confirmed the next stages of VMware Cloud Foundation.

The company now offers VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus and VMware vSphere Standard, both of which are available to all end-user customers directly from Broadcom as well as via distribution channels.

Broadcom-VMware finally caters to SMBs again

Besides ending the sale of perpetual licenses, pushing customers into ongoing subscriptions, Broadcom also reduced the VMware lineup, grouping software into fewer and more expensive bundles. Both of these changes made it especially expensive for smaller companies to continue using VMware services, leading to widespread uproar.

Shenoy wrote: “To round out the portfolio, for customers who are focused on compute virtualization, we will now have two options, VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus and VMware vSphere Standard.”

Companies wanting only vSphere virtualization can now select from two subscriptions following what’s been described as “strong customer momentum” for VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) and VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF).

Suggesting that the company “continue[s] to listen to [its] customers and partners,” Shenoy said: “This combination of added customer choice among our product offerings, along with flexible subscription length, price, and payment flexibility within our per-core subscription model highlight Broadcom’s commitment to our customers.”

However, Broadcom’s efforts could be a case of ‘too little, too late.’ The efforts to pacify smaller businesses with limited budgets come close to 12 months after the company completed its acquisition of VMware.

Just two months ago, we reported that 52% of customers were looking to move to an alternative provider. Six months before that, we revealed that customers were jumping ship, with open-source alternatives like KVM-based and Xen-based proving popular.

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Craig Hale
Craig Hale

With several years’ experience freelancing in tech and automotive circles, Craig’s specific interests lie in technology that is designed to better our lives, including AI and ML, productivity aids, and smart fitness. He is also passionate about cars and the decarbonisation of personal transportation. As an avid bargain-hunter, you can be sure that any deal Craig finds is top value!