Broadcom has acknowledged that its post-acquisition strategy for VMware focused too heavily on promoting VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), which many small-to-medium-sized businesses found unaffordable and feature-bloated. Paul Turner, VCF’s chief product officer, stated that the company had placed excessive emphasis on this flagship offering and that sales incentives had encouraged representatives to direct customers toward VCF rather than lower-cost alternatives.
The pricing shift away from perpetual licenses toward subscription-based bundles following Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware created significant friction with smaller customers. Reports emerged online of sales representatives discouraging customers from purchasing vSphere Standard, the lower-priced virtualization platform, sometimes claiming it was no longer available. Broadcom has now signaled intent to release an updated version of vSphere Standard, with details expected to emerge in October during VMware’s Explore conference.
VMware has not refreshed vSphere Standard since 2022, despite releasing an updated vSphere version alongside VCF 9 in 2025. Leadership indicated that the company had deprioritized the lower-end product to focus on security improvements in VCF and to position private clouds as cost-effective alternatives to public cloud infrastructure.
The shift has resulted in damaged relationships with resellers and customers alike. Dean Colpitts, CTO of Canadian managed services provider Members IT Group, stated his company would not conduct future VMware business after being removed from the reseller program following nearly two decades of partnership. Online discussions reflect similar skepticism, with market observers warning that renewed interest in SMBs may arrive too late to rebuild trust. Competitors including Nutanix, Proxmox, and Microsoft Hyper-V have been actively recruiting disaffected VMware customers.
Industry analysts emphasize that feature additions alone will not restore customer confidence. The primary challenge facing Broadcom involves convincing the market of sustained commitment through stable pricing, reliable renewal terms, and genuine long-term investment in the SMB segment, rather than simply introducing upgraded products.
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