Broadcom and Google Unveil New VMware License Portability Plan for Businesses

Network Security

Key Takeaways:

  • Broadcom and Google have partnered to introduce a license portability plan, allowing enterprise customers to run VMware workloads on Google Cloud.
  • The license portability scheme allows customers to migrate their virtual machines and workloads to Google Cloud VMware Engine.
  • License portability is expected to be available in the second quarter of 2024.

Broadcom and Google have announced a new license portability plan that will allow enterprise customers to run VMware workloads on Google Cloud. Broadcom is also actively advocating for the benefits of the changes to its VMware products among partners and customers.

In the new license portability scheme, customers who purchased VMware Cloud Foundation software from Broadcom can now use their subscriptions not only on Google Cloud VMware Engine but also within their own on-premises data centers. Additionally, they have the option to bring their existing VMware Cloud Foundation subscriptions to Google Cloud VMware Engine.

Organizations will also be able to migrate their virtual machines and workloads to Google Cloud. This license portability scheme promises enhanced operational efficiency and security for businesses. It’s expected to be available in the second quarter of 2024.

“Through this model, our customers can realize the unique benefits of Google Cloud VMware Engine, such as four 9’s cluster-level uptime, deeply integrated networking and a unified Google experience along with the full portfolio of Google Cloud services across AI/ML, data analytics, security, and more,” said Mark Lohmeyer, Vice President and General Manager, Compute and ML Infrastructure at Google Cloud.

Broadcom’s $61 Billion VMware acquisition sparks dramatic changes

Broadcom acquired VMware for $61 billion back in November 2023. Since then, the company has made headlines with several changes to its products and services. In December, Broadcom ended perpetual licenses for VMware products and moved towards a subscription-based business model instead. Consequently, this transition resulted in a substantial surge in license renewal prices, with increases ranging between 200 to 300 percent for VMware’s customer base.

Last month, Broadcom killed off the VMware partner program, which impacted the sales of its products. Broadcom sent invitations to 18,000 reVMware sellers with active contracts from the past two years to join its partner program. This move prevented many of the MSP partners from selling their own hosted VMware-based cloud services.

Broadcom has recently discontinued the free version of VMware’s ESXi hypervisor. The tool allows users to split the physical resources (such as RAM, CPU, and storage) of a computer among several virtual machines (VMs). The free version of ESXi, unlike its paid enterprise counterparts, lacked automated load-balancing, software support and was limited to supporting only two physical CPUs.

VMware’s strategy to appeal to a broader enterprise audience

Last week, VMware acknowledged that the licensing changes have raised concerns among numerous enterprise customers with budget constraints. “Subscription is the model all major enterprise software providers are on today. Subscription software is the right model for fueling continuous innovation for customers,” said Prashanth Shenoy, VP of Product and Technical Marketing for VMware’s Cloud offerings.

Lastly, VMware claimed that the simplification of its product portfolio would help to focus on VMware Cloud Foundation and vSphere Foundation. The company aims to appeal to a broader audience of partners and enterprise customers by offering a select range of products that offer higher value at a competitive price.