Broadcom’s recent defense of skyrocketing VMware costs— claiming customers are simply using it wrong”—has sparked more frustration than reassurance. As enterprises react to forced subscription bundles and sharp price hikes, we’re stepping in with a proven alternative: Continue using your current VMware infrastructure, avoid vendor lock-in, reduce costs and regain control of your tech roadmap – all with Rimini Street.
The VMware licensing backlash: What’s really going on?
Following Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware, customers have seen seismic changes in licensing and pricing. Perpetual licenses are gone, replaced by subscription bundles like VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF). Many small and mid-sized organizations report cost increases of 8–15x, sparking widespread frustration and reconsideration of their VMware strategy.
Broadcom’s CTO, Joe Baguley, argued in a recent interview that customers would see the value of VCF if they simply used all of it. “
But this defense, misses the point. Customers aren’t asking for more features — they’re asking for cost-effective support for the VMware environments they already have and consider mission-critical.
Shelfware or strategic value?
Broadcom touts that 87% of its top 10,000 customers have adopted VCF. But analysts are skeptical. IDC’s Andrew Buss warns that much of this could be shelfware, purchased under pressure rather than through strategic planning. So it’s possible, even likely, that many members of that 87% are now paying much higher monthly fees for features unnecessary or even problematic for their actual business goals, simply because Broadcom made purchasing the VCF bundles the only option.
Rimini Support™ for VMware: A smart path forward
Migrating away from VMware is complex and costly, leaving many organizations stuck in an expensive support model they didn’t choose. Fortunately, there’s another option. For organizations looking to avoid expensive, one-size-fits-all bundles imposed by Broadcom, Rimini Street provides a compelling alternative for its VMware clients:
✅ Extend the life of your existing VMware licenses AND get better support
With Rimini Support™ for VMware, you can continue to use your perpetual VMware licenses with confidence and without converting to subscriptions or paying for unneeded products. Get direct access to a named Primary Support Engineer, with 24/7/365 global support and guaranteed SLA response times.
✅ Reduce costs without sacrificing quality
With Rimini Street support for VMware you can avoid paying up to 1,500% more on total VMware maintenance costs.
✅ Comprehensive coverage
Rimini Street provides full support for VMware vSphere, vSAN, NSX, and other key products, including versions like 6.x and 7.x that Broadcom has designated end-of-support.
✅ Proactive, proprietary security solutions
Rimini Protect™ Advanced Hypervisor Security (AHS), powered by Vali Cyber, is automatically included with Rimini Support for VMware. Our advanced hypervisor security, unique in the market, defends against ransomware and other common malware attacks that span VMware ESXi and other Linux- or KVM-based hypervisors.
✅ Roadmap flexibility
Rimini Street frees you from pressured upgrades, giving you the time and control to explore new platforms — if and when it makes sense for your business.
Don’t pay more for what you don’t need
Broadcom’s bundles may benefit some enterprises that fully adopt every component of VCF, but for many, taking on the entire package is not an operational or budgetary fit. Rimini Street believes you shouldn’t have to overpay for shelfware just to keep your VMware infrastructure running, and that organizations have the right to demand strong ROI for IT decisions.
Whether you’re looking to stabilize costs, extend the life of your existing VMware investment or plan for future flexibility, Rimini Support for VMware gives you the freedom and peace of mind to move forward on your terms. Get the control you need with the security and support you deserve. We’ll Get You There.™
Learn more about Rimini Support for VMware and get in touch with us.