As VMware’s partner ecosystem evolves under the Broadcom acquisition, organizations, notably those seeking support for smaller footprints of up to 200 VMware hosts, are seeking ways to maintain reliability and control costs while adapting to new program requirements. Leaders must rethink how they purchase, manage and support their VMware environments going forward, prioritizing agility to adapt to the dynamically evolving hypervisor market successfully.
Evolving VMware partner programs
VMware’s flagship Partner Connect program concluded on February 4, 2024, and was replaced by the Broadcom Advantage Partner Program – an invitation-only framework VMware said will strengthen collaboration with select partners. Meanwhile, the VMware Cloud Service Provider (VCSP) program expired on October 31, 2025 before being integrated into the Broadcom Advantage Partner Program structure.
As licensees adjust to these changes, many are taking a closer look at their engagement models and long-term IT strategies. While these updates may create new opportunities for alignment, they also highlight the need for greater flexibility, cost efficiency and operational continuity, especially as VMware licensing and support structures shift.
Three key considerations when evaluating flexible VMware support models
While there are several VMware support options, finding the right model and support partner can help achieve these 3 core objectives, at the right price:
1. Preserve operational excellence. Uptime and reliability remain non-negotiable. VMware users must ensure their data center core assets including vSphere, hypervisor and vCenter environments continue to run predictably and can support mission-critical workloads without disruptions. The right support partner can help the organization deliver stronger performance and minimize risk. Rimini Street, a global leader of third-party support for VMware, offers a robust, expert support option for licensees, including those with smaller footprints, and has its own exclusive hypervisor security products and services under Rimini Protect™ Advanced Hypervisor Security to keep VMware systems running securely for longer.
2. Optimize costs. Cutting costs doesn’t mean cutting corners – it’s about making smarter, data-driven financial decisions that sustain both performance and agility. Organizations should evaluate where they can reduce unnecessary spend across licensing, infrastructure and support operations without compromising quality.
3. Extend the life of existing VMware investments. Most organizations have built stable, high-performing VMware environments over many years. The question isn’t simply “should I migrate?”; it’s whether a new subscription model truly delivers more value than maintaining the current, proven setup. For an increasing number of VMware licensees, opting to extend the lifespan of existing investments is demonstrating greater advantages.
Rimini Support™ Flex for VMware: Built for agility and confidence
As the VMware partner ecosystem continues to evolve, Rimini Support™ Flex for VMware offers a proven way to maintain continuity, control costs and prepare for the future of virtualization.
Rimini Support™ Flex for VMware was designed precisely for this scenario: to help clients and partners maintain high-quality VMware support with a right-sized, consumption-based model that fits current and future needs. This way, the organization can continue to control its support costs and preserve continuity of data center operations.
Let’s look at how Rimini Support™ Flex meets the key decision criteria for organizations when it comes to flexible VMware support.
Preserving operational excellence: With Rimini Support™ Flex, organizations get direct support from expert hypervisor engineers from around the globe, with guaranteed priority case response time of 10-minutes, delivered on average in less than 2 minutes. Dedicated Client Engagement Managers align support to business needs, as part of the comprehensive package that helps maintain the uptime, reliability and performance of mission-critical workloads. Rimini Support Flex spans services coverage across 23 countries and is rated 4.9 out of 5.0 for client satisfaction.
Optimizing costs: Rimini Support™ Flex is a practical approach to VMware support for smaller or distributed environments. Organizations can determine their desired support coverage to match organizational scale and usage while avoiding unnecessary upfront commitments with a flexible pay-as-you-go consumption model. Your teams have the option to expand into advanced hypervisor security services or add additional support hours as needed.
Extending the life of VMware investments: Rimini Support™ Flex empowers clients to continue leveraging existing VMware infrastructure while evaluating future modernization or multi-hypervisor strategies. Combined with Rimini Protect™ Advanced Hypervisor Security, organizations can extend the useful life of VMware assets for years to come while receiving proactive threat intelligence to safeguard critical workloads. This means receiving Security Vulnerability and Analysis Reports (SVARs), Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) notices and Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) analysis.
Rimini Street is here to provide clarity, continuity and control in an ever-changing landscape. Learn more about Rimini Support™ Flex for VMware now.
