By Duan Van Der Westhuizen, Senior Vice President, Hybrid Cloud, Ensono This enterprise-tested blueprint can help you minimize business and operational risk, improve platform usage and reduce costs.
These changes were fully implemented as of April 1, 2024, shifting the licensing model and cost structures enterprises have long depended on.
Market responses to such significant shifts are often marked by anxiety, particularly around cost implications, and this one has been no different. 56% of impacted I&O members say they are concerned about the acquisition, with price being their biggest worry1.
My company, Ensono, shared these concerns. As a VMware customer ourselves as well as a Pinnacle VMware Cloud Service Provider, we knew that we had to move fast to understand and reduce the impact of the changes on our own business, while preparing our infrastructure and teams to help our clients do the same.
1 2024 Gartner Sentiment on Broadcom Acquisition of VMware Poll. This poll was conducted online from 17-29 January 2024 to understand IT leaders’ sentiments about Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware. In total 246 IT leaders who were members of Gartner’s Research Circle, a Gartner-managed panel, participated. Participants were from North America (n=117), EMEA (n=22) and Latin America (n=6). Disclaimer: The results of this poll do not represent global findings or the market as a whole, but reflect the sentiments of the respondents and companies polled.
Racing against the renewal clock
With our renewal date approaching, we needed to minimize the impact before committing to a minimum-term three-year deal. We knew that the price increase would be significant, but we didn’t know exactly what it would be. We might end up paying for VCF features that we wouldn’t use and for additional add-ons that we would need. We also knew that our hardware would need refreshing as some of our servers had fewer than 16 cores per CPU.
To get clarity, our Infrastructure Engineering team conducted a full assessment of our VMware estate, evaluating:
Our current licensing
Our VMware product use
Planned and potential infrastructure optimization opportunities
The cost impact of renewing under the new model with or without optimization
The assessment delivered a stark estimate: With no changes, we’d see costs skyrocket 73% over the upcoming five-year period. It was time to act.
Positive: I prefer the flexibility and potential cost savings of a subscription model.
Negative: I miss the predictability and control of the perpetual license model.
Neutral: I see both pros and cons and am undecided.
Concerned: I’m worried about the potential cost increases and impact on my business.
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