VMware’s end-user compute products are set to undergo substantial changes imminently, with service providers and customers bracing for the impact of yet another potentially colossal shakeup by Broadcom.
An email seen by The Register is reportedly warning service providers of VMware’s Horizon range to either face increased costs or an architecture change.
The changes had also reportedly been covered in a conference call “in recent weeks,” however affected users have had a less-than-ideal amount of time to prepare.
Horizon service providers have been told that they’ll have to make one of two choices. The first, buying licenses for VMware Cloud Foundation and for Horizon, could end up being costly because it involves subscribing to Broadcom’s software bundle.
The second pick, acquiring licenses to VMware vSphere Foundation for VDI from a distributor and reselling them to clients, will require architectural changes that could also add an unwanted (and frankly unnecessary) cost.
Although those affected have reportedly been given permission to apply for exemptions, a separate communication reveals that the system used for managing exemptions is set to go offline at the end of April.
Since acquiring VMware for $69 billion last November, Broadcom has introduced a series of considerable changes to the virtualization company’s portfolio, leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of customers, clients and partners worldwide.
Several Broadcom executives have come online in recent weeks to address these concerns, including CEO Hock Tan acknowledging the “unease.”
However, investors seem to be less phased about the changes. In the past six months, covering a short period in the runup to the acquisition, Broadcom share prices have risen by a pretty respectable 53.9%.