Broadcom has a new subscription tier for VMware virtualization software that could satisfy some dissatisfied VMware customers, especially small to mid-sized businesses. The new VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus subscription tier creates a more digestible bundle that is better suited for smaller customers. But it may be too late to convince some SMBs not to abandon VMware.
Shortly after Broadcom bought VMware, it stopped selling perpetual VMware licenses and started requiring subscriptions. Broadcom also bundled VMware's products into a smaller number of SKUs, resulting in higher costs and frustration among customers who felt like they were being forced to pay for products they didn't want. All this, combined with Broadcom dumping some smaller VMware channel partners (and reportedly acquiring its largest customers outright), has raised doubts about whether Broadcom's VMware would be a good fit for smaller customers.
“The challenge with much of Broadcom's VMware is changing to date and prior to the announcement [of the vSphere Enterprise Plus subscription tier] is that it also forced many organizations into a much higher offering and many more components in a stack that they weren't interested in before,” Rick Vanover, Veeam's product strategy VP, told Ars.
On October 31, Broadcom announced the vSphere Enterprise Plus plan. From small to large, the available tiers are vSphere Standard, vSphere Enterprise Plus, vSphere Foundation, and the flagship VMware Cloud Foundation. The introduction of vSphere Enterprise Plus means that customers who only want vSphere virtualization can now choose from two bundles instead of one.
“[T]o round out the portfolio: For customers focused on computer virtualization, we now have two options: VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus and VMware vSphere Standard,” explained Prashanth Shenoy, vice president of product marketing at Broadcom's VMware Cloud Foundation division. blog post.
