VMware Under Broadcom: What Every Business Needs to Know in 2025
- Derek Roush
- Jul 29
- 3 min read
The dust hasn’t exactly settled — it’s still flying. When Broadcom finalized its $60+ billion acquisition of VMware in late 2023, many expected changes. But few could have predicted just how dramatic the shakeup would be. Now in 2025, the fallout is real — skyrocketing costs, partner terminations, and a licensing model that’s leaving small and mid-sized businesses scrambling.
Here’s what you need to know — and what you can do about it before Broadcom decides your fate.
The Broadcom Bombshell
The moment Broadcom took the reins, the old VMware you knew vanished:
Perpetual licensing? Gone.
Modular SKUs like Essentials Plus? Eliminated.
New baseline? VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0 – and that’s the only game in town.
Broadcom has forced all customers onto subscription-based bundles. Even if your infrastructure only needs a fraction of the full VCF stack, you're still paying for the whole buffet.
Sticker Shock for SMBs
If you're a smaller business, you're feeling it the worst. Some customers report licensing cost increases up to 1500%, thanks to Broadcom's rigid 72-core per-CPU minimum licensing structure. Even if your servers are running far less, you’re paying as if you’re a hyperscaler.
Oh, and the Essentials Plus Kit that many SMBs relied on? Broadcom axed it, effectively pushing smaller orgs into Enterprise-level pricing. It’s a move that’s being called tone-deaf — or outright hostile — to mid-market and regional IT teams.
The Partner Purge: VCSP Gets Gated
As if things weren’t messy enough, Broadcom also pulled the rug out from under VMware’s partner ecosystem. On July 15, 2025, thousands of VMware Cloud Service Providers received non-renewal notices. Only those invited into the exclusive new VCSP program will be allowed to support customers after October 31, 2025.
Translation: If your current VMware partner wasn’t on Broadcom’s short list, they’re cut off — and you may be too.
What Is VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 (VCF 9.0)?
Launched in June 2025, VCF 9.0 is Broadcom’s bet on the future of private cloud. It promises:
Unified stack for virtualization, containers, AI workloads
Single-console management with policy blueprints
Stronger governance for regulated industries
Better automation for dev teams
Sounds great… if you're a Fortune 500. But for many businesses, it's overkill, overpriced, and over prescribed.
What Should You Be Doing Right Now?
If you're still running VMware or working with a partner who may be on the chopping block, now is the time to act — not react:
🔍 1. Audit your environment
Are you on a perpetual license?
Are your patch tokens still valid post-March 2025?
Will you lose binary access soon?
🤝 2. Confirm your partner's VCSP status
If they didn’t make Broadcom’s invite list, you’ve got until October 31, 2025, to find a new support path.
⚙️ 3. Rethink your architecture
Start exploring hybrid models. Use VMware strategically — for AI or compliance workloads — and leverage public cloud or alternative hypervisors where flexibility and cost matter.
The Big Risk? VMware Becomes a Luxury Item
If Broadcom continues this trajectory, VMware risks becoming a “mainframe-style” solution — powerful but unaffordable and inflexible for most businesses. Think Cadillac pricing in a Toyota world.
But if you get ahead of the curve, you can turn these changes into an advantage, especially when it comes to:
AI deployment readiness
Regulated industry compliance
Multi-cloud flexibility
How VocalPoint Consulting Can Help
At VocalPoint Consulting, we’re helping companies just like yours navigate this VMware-Broadcom chaos with clarity and confidence. Using our proprietary IT Compass Framework, we help you:
Audit your current VMware posture
Evaluate partner and licensing options
Renegotiate terms based on real usage
Architect a future-proof hybrid cloud strategy
Our clients are already saving millions by ditching legacy seat-count contracts and shifting to value-based, usage-aligned procurement.
Don’t Let Broadcom Write Your Story
This is more than a licensing change — it’s a crossroads. Broadcom may have reshaped the landscape, but that doesn’t mean you have to follow their map.
✅ Schedule a free strategy call with us today
Let’s help you take back control of your cloud roadmap, your costs, and your options.
👉 Book Your Licensing Strategy Session Now
Want help with your VMware decisions?We’ve got your back. And we’ll even speak human, not enterprise-ese.
