Broadcom changes VMware pricing amid customer backlash and EU questioning

“This ensures customers will not face any licensing mismatch as they move between providers, and will avoid switching and additional licensing costs,” Tan wrote in the post.

VCF also will now come “at half the list price compared to past pricing” as a standard technology stack for cloud providers to provide the same technology and support experience across them all, he wrote, but did not specify pricing.

VMware also will complete its transition plan to a subscription model that provides access to the most recent version of products plus support for a fixed term, something that began in 2018, long before Broadcom unveiled plans to purchase the company, Tan wrote.

He said the transition will not affect customers’ ability to use existing perpetual licenses, including those for older vSphere versions they have previously licensed. Customers also can continue to receive maintenance and support for VSphere by signing up for one of the new subscription offerings; however, if they choose not to sign up for a subscription, they will still receive free access to zero-day security patches for supported versions of vSphere, Tan said.

Uphill battle

The pending EC investigation into its VMware licensing practices is the latest concern facing Broadcom after its initial announcement of its plans to purchase of the company back in May 2022, which has been an uphill battle from the start for Tan and his team and has drawn considerable fire from customers.

It took Broadcom 18 months to get all of the requisite approvals needed to finalize the $61 billion purchase. And then once the deal was finalized, Broadcom laid off thousands of employees, sold off parts of the business, and then proceeded to change licensing terms in ways that were costly to customers.