A trade association representing cloud service providers has submitted an antitrust complaint to the European Commission, the EU’s regulatory body. The filing centers on Broadcom’s decision to shut down VMware’s cloud service provider partner program earlier this year.
Since acquiring VMware, Broadcom has significantly reduced the number of channel partners collaborating with the virtualization firm. This change commenced with the elimination of VMware’s existing partner program.
In its place, Broadcom established an invite-only alternative. This new model prioritizes larger partners that serve enterprise-scale clients, rather than small-to-medium-sized businesses.
The current count of cloud service provider partners working with VMware has dropped sharply. Broadcom introduced a requirement mandating that CSP partners operate a minimum of 3,500 cores. This criterion has disqualified hundreds of cloud service providers from partnership eligibility.
Prior to Broadcom’s acquisition, VMware maintained over 4,000 cloud service provider partners, according to a February 2024 report from The Register. Today, VMware reportedly has 19 CSP partners in the United States and approximately nine in the United Kingdom, as reported by The Register.
In January, Broadcom terminated VMware’s cloud service provider program in Europe. This action prompted the antitrust complaint filed today by CISPE, the trade association.
The complaint requests that the European Commission intervene to halt Broadcom from ending the program. The program is currently honoring transactions until March 31.
CISPE is urging the European Commission to implement an interim measure. This would require Broadcom to reopen the cloud service provider partner program, reinstate displaced partners, and prevent Broadcom from retaliating against them.
