Small Clouds Out as VMware Again Changes Partner Program
upstart writes:
Small clouds out as VMware again changes partner program:
VMware has advised partners its current channel program will end, and it seems that smaller players won't be invited back.
[...] This is the second major shakeup for VMware partners in eighteen months, after the Broadcom business unit's January 2024 decision to terminate members that operated VMware-powered clouds that ran on fewer than 3,500 processor cores.
That change caused great unease. Axed service providers could not secure licenses to run VMware-powered clouds, leaving them with hardware they could not legally use for its intended purpose. Customers of axed partners faced forced migrations.
VMware responded to community concerns by creating a "white label program" that allowed small cloud operators - now known as "secondary partners" - to acquire licenses from the "primary partner" that remained in its channel.
The white label program will soon be history, meaning many VMware users will need to find a new home.
[...] The VMware ecosystem now has good reason to fear Broadcom is capricious, because just last March the company hailed its revised partner program as ideal for customers and partners alike.
By changing its partner program twice within 18 months, Broadcom will therefore anger and disappoint many customers by forcing them to make a costly and complex cloud migration.
Partners that made the cut a year ago and have now been ejected will likely be furious - and with good cause because they will have invested in VMware practices that may soon be dust.
[...] Broadcom points to growing VMware revenue as evidence its approach is working.
Acquisitions are seldom quick or clean. While Broadcom can point to improved software and product development prowess, this one has been painful for VMware customers who surely now deserve a period of calm and predictability, even if that's not the best outcome for Broadcom shareholders.
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.