High level Overview of VMware Changes
Over the last two years, Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware has driven major changes to licensing, pricing, and how customers buy VMware products. For many organizations, renewal quotes are coming back far higher than expected — and often with fewer options than before. If you’re running VMware today, this is something you need to understand before your next renewal.
The Shift Since Acquisition
Broadcom finalized its acquisition of VMware in late 2023, and since then, VMware’s operating model has fundamentally shifted.
- Perpetual licenses were retired
- Product portfolio was consolidated
- VMware is now sold exclusively through subscription‑based bundles
What used to be flexible and modular is now more standardized — and, for many environments, more expensive.
Perpetual to Subscription: CapEx to OpEx
One of the biggest changes is the move from perpetual licenses to subscription‑only pricing.
Previously, organizations could make a one‑time investment and renew support as needed. Today, access to VMware is tied entirely to active subscriptions.
That shifts VMware from a capital expense to an ongoing operating expense — often creating less predictability for IT budgets.
Bundles & Retired Editions
At the same time, VMware dramatically reduced its product catalog.
More than 160 individual products were consolidated into 4 bundles, such as VMware Cloud Foundation and vSphere Foundation. Capabilities that were once purchased à la carte — such as storage, networking, or management tools — are now locked inside those bundles. For organizations that only need core virtualization, this often means paying for features they may never use.
New Core Minimums
Broadcom also introduced significantly higher minimum core licensing requirements.
Many renewals now require a minimum of 72 cores per CPU — regardless of actual workload size.
For smaller environments, branch offices, or specialized workloads, this creates a much higher licensing floor, and drives costs up quickly due to the fact that most systems will have far less than 72 cores per CPU in these environments.
Pricing, Partner Changes, and the 2027 Deadline
The combined impact of these changes is clear: many organizations are seeing sharp renewal increases — in some cases several times their prior contracts.
At the same time, Broadcom has reduced the number of authorized VMware partners, limiting customer choice and support paths.
And there’s an important date to be aware of.
By March 31, 2027, Broadcom is ending support for the legacy VMware MSP and Cloud Service Provider partner models. Existing partner agreements will expire and cannot be renewed.
After that point, VMware cloud services can only be delivered through a much smaller group of Broadcom‑authorized Pinnacle Partners. Even if you plan to stay on VMware short‑term, this deadline makes early planning essential.
What Mid‑Market Leaders Can Do Now
Business leaders generally have three practical paths forward
First, Optimize & Stay
- Inventory licenses
- Align core counts
- Right‑size bundles
- Negotiate contract terms carefully.
Second, Evaluate Migration Paths
- Microsoft Hyper-V – often included with Windows Server
- Azure for hybrid and cloud strategies
Third, Plan Early
- Model ongoing costs
- Assess workloads
- Avoid last-minute renewal decisions that limit control
At Weidenhammer, we help organizations evaluate all three paths — from VMware optimization to Hyper‑V and Azure readiness.
Wrap Up
Here are the takeaways for most organizations:
VMware is now subscription‑only and renewals can often spike.
Bundles do reduce flexibility and typically increase cost, along with core minimums raising baseline costs even further.
Legacy MSP agreements end in 2027. Depending on where you receive services from, planning will be warranted.
You do have options — but timing matters. The best outcomes come from planning well before renewal deadlines arrive.
If Weidenhammer can be of assistance as you assess your environment or plan next steps, we’re here to help.
Watch this quick video for the highlights from Director of Cloud & Infrastructure, Kevin Gorski.
