Two years after Broadcom completed its acquisition of VMware, a significant portion of customers continue to face substantial operational and financial challenges. According to a recent report from CloudBolt Software, titled “The Mass Exodus That Never Was: The Squeeze Is Just Beginning,” the transition has been marked by persistent disruption and strategic shifts away from VMware’s ecosystem.
CloudBolt, a provider of hybrid cloud management platforms, conducted a survey in January involving 302 IT decision-makers at director-level or higher from North American companies with at least 1,000 employees. While the sample size is not exhaustive, it offers a clear snapshot of the current sentiment among enterprise VMware users. The findings indicate that 88 percent of respondents still view the Broadcom takeover as disruptive, highlighting ongoing struggles with vendor lock-in and cost management.
Price increases emerged as the primary driver of disruption, cited by 89 percent of those surveyed. This was closely followed by uncertainty about Broadcom’s strategic plans, mentioned by 85 percent. Other significant factors included concerns over support quality (78 percent), the shift from perpetual licenses to subscriptions (72 percent), changes to VMware’s partner program (68 percent), and forced product bundling (65 percent).
In the immediate aftermath of the acquisition, some customers reported extreme price hikes, with quotes showing increases of up to 1,000 percent. CloudBolt’s data, however, presents a more nuanced picture of the financial impact. Fourteen percent of respondents said their VMware costs have at least doubled, while 12 percent reported increases of 50 to 99 percent. A larger group, 33 percent, experienced hikes of 24 to 49 percent, and 31 percent saw rises of less than 25 percent.
Despite these relatively moderate increases compared to initial fears, pricing changes remain a critical pain point. Eighty-five percent of survey participants expressed concern that VMware will become even more expensive under Broadcom’s stewardship. This anxiety is fueling ongoing efforts to reduce dependency on VMware, with many organizations actively exploring alternative virtualization and cloud management solutions.
The report underscores that the challenges extend beyond mere cost. The shift to subscription models and alterations to partner programs have introduced additional layers of complexity, making it harder for companies to plan long-term IT strategies. As a result, the trend of reducing VMware footprint persists, driven by a combination of financial pressures and strategic uncertainty.
CloudBolt’s analysis aims to identify these pain points to offer targeted solutions, but the data suggests that the exodus from VMware is a gradual, ongoing process rather than a sudden mass departure. The “squeeze” referenced in the report title appears to be intensifying, with customers navigating a landscape of evolving pricing structures and vendor policies.
