Broadcom's Acquisition of VMware: How Short-Term Vision Erodes Customers and Partners’ Trust, as well as VMware’s Future

A Controversial Takeover

The announcement of the acquisition of VMware, a global leader in virtualization solutions, by Broadcom, a semiconductor giant, has sparked numerous reactions in the IT world. While Broadcom hopes to leverage VMwares product and service portfolio to strengthen its market position in cloud services, some analysts and experts are concerned about the impact of this deal on the quality and innovation of VMwares solutions, as well as on customer and partner trust.

Short-Term Vision

Broadcom is known for its aggressive acquisition strategy, aimed at buying profitable companies and reducing their operational costs, particularly in research and development. This approach has led to significant profits for Broadcom but at the expense of added value and differentiation of its products. By acquiring VMware, Broadcom risks sacrificing the innovation and quality of VMware's virtualization, hybrid cloud, security, and mobility solutions that have been key to VMware’s success. This short-term vision could harm the satisfaction and loyalty of VMware's customers and partners, who expect efficient, reliable, and tailored solutions.

Loss of Trust

Trust is crucial in the IT sector, where customers and partners need reliable solutions that ensure the security, availability, and growth of their infrastructures and applications. However, Broadcom's acquisition of VMware could undermine this trust by creating uncertainty and confusion about the future of VMware’s products and services. VMware’s clients and partners might fear a decline in quality, price increases, reduced support, or incompatibility with other providers' solutions. These concerns might prompt them to seek more secure and sustainable alternatives for their cloud and virtualization needs.

Moreover, recent announcements from Broadcom confirm plans to cut several key products from VMware's portfolio and eliminate the popular perpetual licensing model. (source: https://news.vmware.com/company/vmware-by-broadcom-business-transformation)

Opportunity for Azure and Microsoft 365

In light of Broadcom's acquisition of VMware, VMware’s clients and partners should consider migrating to Azure and Microsoft 365, Microsoft’s cloud and productivity solutions. Azure and Microsoft 365 offer several advantages over VMware’s solutions, including native integration with Microsoft operating systems, applications, and services for better compatibility, ease of use, and productivity; a comprehensive and diverse range of services covering all cloud, virtualization, security, mobility, AI, data analytics, and IoT needs; constant innovation to provide cutting-edge technology solutions; flexibility and scalability to suit various deployment models, service levels, and pricing options; and reliable and secure solutions to protect, ensure availability, and enhance performance.

For VMware's predominantly medium to large Canadian business clients and partners, migrating to Azure and Microsoft 365 presents an opportunity to access high-quality, budget-friendly cloud and productivity solutions, fostering the trust needed for successful digital transformation.

Product Comparisons

Here’s a comparison of some leading VMware products with their Microsoft counterparts:

• VMware Horizon vs Windows 365: Both offer virtual desktops accessible from any device, anywhere. VMware Horizon uses VMware’s private cloud infrastructure, while Windows 365 uses Microsoft’s Azure cloud. Windows 365 provides a more integrated experience with Microsoft services like Microsoft 365, Teams, or Power BI, and simpler, more transparent pricing based on user count and desktop configuration.
• VMware Cloud Foundation vs Azure Stack: Both enable hybrid cloud deployment combining public and private clouds. VMware Cloud Foundation extends to AWS using VMware’s software platform, while Azure Stack uses Azure’s public cloud platform, offering better interoperability with Microsoft services and tools like Azure Arc and Azure DevOps.
• VMware Tanzu vs Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS): Both manage Kubernetes clusters, an open-source container orchestration platform. VMware Tanzu covers various Kubernetes management aspects, while AKS, a managed service on Azure, integrates natively with Azure services.
• VMware vRealize Suite vs Azure: Both optimize cloud resource performance and consumption. VMware’s suite offers operational, automation, networking, and security management, while Azure provides tools like Azure Automation, DevOps, and Monitor for similar purposes.
• VMware Carbon Black vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint: Both protect endpoints against advanced threats like ransomware and malware. Carbon Black is a cloud-based security platform using behavioral analysis and AI, while Defender for Endpoint integrates with Windows 10 and uses Azure, AI, and Microsoft’s security graph.

Conclusion

If you have concerns, consider your options. VMware has driven significant innovation in virtualization and cloud services, but it seems those days are behind us. Contact me for a discussion about migrating to more unified and secure platforms, recognizing that the diversity in IT technologies often hampers cybersecurity. A move towards harmonizing and unifying platforms is a reality we need to explore now.