VMware kills vSphere Foundation in parts of EMEA

Exclusive Broadcom has recently killed off VMware vSphere Foundation in parts of EMEA, the company told The Register, dealing a blow to smaller customers, one of whom told us they would likely switch to a rival hypervisor as a result. VVF is a bundle that offers compute, storage, and networking virtualization, and a platform to run containers. It’s most useful in hyperconverged infrastructure and hybrid clouds, but is less capable than the Cloud Foundation (VCF) private cloud suite. Virtzilla said EMEA customers would need to check with their local dealer to see if VVF was still on sale in their country. “VVF is no longer available in some EMEA countries, but for the majority it is still available,” a Broadcom spokesperson said. “Customers will have to reach out to sales reps or partners to determine availability of a given product in their region. These changes were recent.” Our initial tipster said their reseller clued them into the impending change when VMware's new fiscal year started in November. This anonymous customer told us that their hardware fleet boasts thousands of compute cores and without more affordable options, his organization was looking at their annual VMware spend leaping by 10x from around $130,000 to $1.3 million. “We're currently looking to jump ship to either Microsoft’s Hyper-V or Nutanix, as we can't eat (that) increase,” they told The Register. Yves Sandfort, the CEO and founder of Comdivision, one of EMEA’s leading VMware systems integrators, told The Register that fewer, higher-priced products are likely on the way for VMware customers around the globe. Sandfort – who founded Comdivision in 1996 and has seven VMware master competencies – expects that Broadcom’s push to move customers into its private cloud offerings will eventually see it consolidate its virtualization lineup on VMware Cloud Foundation, which would eliminate cheaper products as well as Virtzilla’s smaller customers. “Whilst I understand the concerns by different customers, it is important to focus on the core vision set forward by Broadcom, which is to be a private cloud platform provider, not just being a hypervisor company,” Sandfort told The Register. Prior to Broadcom’s 2023 acquisition, Sandfort said, VMware was a DIY store that gave all comers the products they needed to build their own cloud. “Now they are selling a true private cloud solution which is much easier to implement. So I think this decision of focus makes sense,” he said. Sandfort said the moves will not be right for all customers, and Broadcom will likely lose some. Nonetheless, its well-worn strategy of catering to its largest customers should result in those customers moving more of their work into VMware’s remaining products, meaning more VCF cores being put to work. “This is where it is getting tricky. When we just look at the number of customers, yes there is a high chance it is going to see a decrease in count,” he said. “When we will look into the number of VCF cores however I would expect we will see growth, as customers will utilize the platform and shift services into it. Especially with new advanced Private AI and Network Security options, there is more demand than ever, combined with the need for sovereign cloud.” For the moment, a Broadcom spokesperson told us it has no plans to ditch VMware vSphere Standard, the basic server virtualization bundle which we're told makes up about 60 percent of the company’s licenses and is a lower-cost way to access VMware’s hypervisor than buying its full suite of VMware Cloud Foundation products. “We have not announced any changes to the availability of vSphere Standard in EMEA nor end of support for vSphere Standard,” the spokesperson said via email. “The product remains fully available across EMEA today. However, Broadcom product availability can vary by region to align with local market requirements, customer demand, and other considerations.” Word of fewer product options in EMEA comes as the Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE) has asked the General Court of the European Union to annul the 2023 merger that brought Broadcom and VMware together. On Thursday CISPE argued that Broadcom’s aim to increase EBITDA by 60 to 80 percent in three years in a market growing 5 to 8 percent annually could only be achieved through “aggressive monetization of VMware’s locked-in customer base through steep price rises and forced bundling.” "The Commission looked at this merger through half-closed eyes and declared it safe. By rubber stamping the deal, Brussels handed Broadcom a blank check to raise prices, lock in and squeeze customers. Broadcom has, predictably, cashed this cheque with interest. This was a failure of oversight by the regulator with real-world costs for Europe's cloud sector and every organization that depends upon it,” Francisco Mingorence, secretary general of CISPE, said. ®