Broadcom's VMware Cloud Foundation Division ends perpetual licenses, moves to subscriptions, and makes a “dramatic simplification” of its product portfolio
Now that our acquisition by Broadcom has successfully completed … Ed Targett / The Stack : Broadcom is killing off VMware perpetual licences and strong-arming users onto subscriptions Larry Dignan / Constellation Research : Will VMware customers balk as Broadcom transitions them to subscriptions? Mastodon: Wendell Bell / @wndlb@mas.to : @Techmeme You bought a “perpetual"license, but now there is going to be no more support? Do I love the smell of a class action in the morning? This one is so simple, most Judges will understand it. X: @leviathan_it3 : @sysadafterdark To be fair VMware themselves had been slowly moving to subscription licensing for everything anyway, Broadcom only expedited it @sysadafterdark : Oh fuck. They did it. I may need to re-evaluate my stance and migrate away from VMware if my keys stop working. I would totally run Proxmox or XCP-NG but unfortunately those environments don't support thin provisioning over iSCSI storage. Richard Seroter / @rseroter : Broadcom is killing off VMware perpetual licences and strong-arming users onto subscriptions https://www.thestack.technology/ ... < it's hard to find a perpetual license anymore! Seems like any type of software has subscription for support, and now for licenses themselves Joe B. / @theblindhacker : and so it begins, Next they are going to ax workstation and player. @nixcraft : Like Adobe, VMware will now be available on monthly subscription options. Broadcom is killing old licensing models that are popular among enterprise customers. [image]
Context & Ripple Effects
This was the pivotal post-acquisition licensing reset: Broadcom's VMware unit paired the end of perpetual licensing with a much narrower product portfolio. It turned a mature infrastructure software estate into a recurring-contract relationship rather than a purchase-and-maintain model.
Subsequent coverage indicates the change became a lasting source of customer friction, with customers later reporting sharply higher VMware costs and Broadcom eventually acknowledging customer and partner unease.
First-order effects
- VMware customers can no longer make new perpetual-license purchases and must evaluate subscription terms as they renew or expand deployments.
- Broadcom can concentrate sales, support, and product investment around fewer VMware offerings, while customers and partners must map existing deployments to the simplified portfolio.
Second-order effects
- The switch raises switching and procurement pressure for organizations whose VMware estates were built around perpetual ownership; later reports of higher customer costs show why renewal decisions became a focal point.
- Resellers and service partners must adapt to a smaller, subscription-led catalog, while alternative virtualization providers gain a clearer opening when customers reassess migration economics.
Third-order effects
- If sustained, the move shifts enterprise virtualization from a product-ownership market toward recurring bundles, giving the platform owner more control over packaging and customer monetization.
- The trade-off is sharper incumbent-transition risk: simplifying a portfolio can improve vendor focus, but can also accelerate customer migration if contract changes outweigh the operational cost of leaving.
The trend: Broadcom's VMware reset is one instance of mature enterprise-software vendors using portfolio consolidation and subscriptions to turn installed bases into higher-control recurring revenue.