If you’ve been feeling the weight of navigating the new VMware support landscape after the Broadcom acquisition, you’re not alone. With sweeping changes to licensing, support structures and product bundles, IT leaders are finding it more challenging than ever to get a clear, direct line to the support their organizations need.
In this blog, you’ll gain a clear understanding of alternative options for VMware support, and how to choose the path that protects your budget, keeps your operations secure and buys you time to evaluate what’s best for your hypervisor roadmap.
The current state of VMware support
Since Broadcom finalized its acquisition of VMware, support options have shifted dramatically:
- Perpetual licenses retired: Broadcom is ending support for standalone perpetual licenses, instead pushing customers toward subscription-only bundles like VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF).
- Support limited to bundled tiers: To get technical support, you now have to buy into multi-product bundles, even if you only use part of the stack.
- Self-service emphasis: Many customers are reporting longer wait time to reach knowledgeable engineers, which puts pressure back on the customer to resolve the issue on their own. In some cases, the “support” offered is limited to documentation portals or community forums.
- Steep cost increases: Some customers are facing up to 15 times higher licensing and support costs, creating severe budget strain, especially for mid-sized enterprises.
The result? IT teams are stuck between paying for more than they need or taking on unacceptable risk, some of which may not be so transparent.
Option 1: Broadcom VMware support (now subscription-only)
If you stay with Broadcom, be prepared for their terms: subscription bundles, multi-year commitments and self-service as the first line of “help.” While this might work for large enterprises that use every component in the bundle, many organizations are finding the cost and complexity unjustified.
Pros:
- Continued vendor support for the latest VMware versions
- Aligned with Broadcom’s roadmap
Cons:
- High cost and low flexibility
- Self-service as the default, lower-ROI for support spend
- Forced bundles that may include products you’ll never use but still need to pay for
- Licensing rigidity that limits your options
Option 2: Self-support or open-source alternatives
Some organizations are choosing to run their perpetual-license environments without vendor support or migrating to open-source virtualization stacks like KVM or Proxmox.
Pros:
- Minimal ongoing support costs
- Access to community knowledge and open-source tools
Cons:
- Greater security risk: open-source code stacks are frequent targets for vulnerabilities
- High risk in the event of critical issues, particularly security breaches
- Requires deep in-house expertise, which may unexpectedly increase overhead costs over time
Option 3: Third-party VMware support from Rimini Street
If you want to keep your existing VMware environment, control your costs and benefit from a direct line to expert help, Rimini Street is your best path forward. With Rimini Support™ for VMware, customers retain control over their environments, receive ultra-responsive engineering support and have the added flexibility and freedom to plan their long-term IT strategy.
What sets Rimini Street apart:
- Support for perpetual-license VMware environments
- 24/7/365 access to experienced engineers
- Guaranteed 10-minute response SLA for priority cases, with actual time averaging less than 2 minutes
- No forced upgrades or bundled licensing
- Zero-day hypervisor protection, spanning across VMware ESXi and other Linux-based hypervisors via Rimini Protect™ Advanced Hypervisor Security powered by Vali Cyber® – already included in Rimini Support for VMware!
Rimini Street works as a strategic ally and an extension of your team, helping you optimize your current VMware investments and providing vendor-agnostic council for your hypervisor needs. We’ve dedicated 20 years to supporting mission-critical enterprise systems and thousands of customizations, proving ourselves as a trusted partner and global leader of third-party support for Oracle, SAP and now VMware.
Choosing the right path, without pressure
Your direct line to VMware support shouldn’t come with hidden costs, limited access, or forced decisions. Whether you’re looking for a stopgap while evaluating alternatives or gain a long-term support partner that puts your business first, we’re here to help.
Just remember, you don’t have to rush into a costly migration, sign a restrictive subscription or gamble on going it alone. With Rimini Street, you can:
- Stabilize and secure your VMware environment
- Free up budget for innovation
- Get expert help exactly when you need it
- Plan your future on your timeline, not the vendor’s
Need help navigating the new VMware landscape? Rimini Street is here to provide clarity, continuity and control. For more information, please visit us here.
