VMware Support Alternative

Broadcom's VMware Acquisition Created 3–5x Price Increases You Don't Have to Accept

When Broadcom acquired VMware, enterprise customers lost the perpetual licensing option. Forced into subscription-only pricing, many saw support costs jump 3–5x overnight. We support your existing vSphere, vSAN, NSX-T, Horizon, and vRealize infrastructure at the price you paid before — not what Broadcom demands now.

50–90%
Cost reduction
15 min
Response SLA
30–60
Day transition

Free VMware Support Cost Analysis

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500+
Enterprise Clients
50–90%
Cost Savings
15 min
Response SLA
98.7%
Retention Rate
Est. 2016
Year Founded

The Problem

Broadcom's VMware Pricing Is a Deliberate Lock-In

Broadcom didn't acquire VMware to improve it — they acquired it to extract maximum value from installed customer bases who have no alternative. The switch to subscription-only pricing and 3–5x cost increases is designed to be inescapable.

📈

3–5x Price Increases

Broadcom eliminated perpetual licensing overnight. Customers who paid $500K for support are now being asked to pay $1.5M–$2.5M annually. No negotiation. No alternatives presented.

🔐

Forced Subscription Model

Perpetual licences are no longer supported. You must convert to subscription or be cut off from updates and support. Broadcom controls the terms, the timeline, and the price.

📵

Free Tier Eliminated

VMware's free hypervisor tier is gone. Broadcom wants every customer on paid support. Small and mid-market organisations that relied on free vSphere are forced to pay or migrate.

🚀

Cloud Upsell Pressure

Broadcom's support strategy prioritises vCloud, Tanzu, and other cloud solutions. On-premise vSphere support quality is quietly declining. You're pushed toward cloud regardless of your needs.

🤝

Enterprise Consolidation Focus

Broadcom's acquisition strategy consolidates VMware with other vendor toolsets. The result: bloated contracts bundling products you don't use, at prices you can't negotiate.

Support Quality Degradation

As Broadcom restructures VMware, engineering resources are spread thin. Support response times increase. First-level support lacks product depth. Escalation delays are common.

Coverage Comparison

What You Get With GoVendorFree vs Broadcom VMware

Superior support. Lower cost. No vendor lock-in. The comparison is clear.

Coverage Area Broadcom VMware GoVendorFree
Initial response SLA Hours to days ✓ 15 minutes guaranteed
Named engineer ✗ Ticket queues ✓ Dedicated named engineer
Perpetual licence support ✗ Forced to subscription ✓ All perpetual versions supported
Annual cost ✗ 3–5x increase (subscription) ✓ 50–90% less than Broadcom
End-of-support version coverage ✗ Not covered unless you upgrade ✓ Full support indefinitely
vSAN support Licence-dependent ✓ Full coverage included
NSX-T/NSX-V support Separate add-on costs ✓ Included in base support
Horizon support License-dependent, high cost ✓ Included, same price
Contract flexibility ✗ Multi-year, vendor lock-in ✓ Annual, exit anytime

Broadcom's price increases don't have to reshape your IT budget.

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VMware Products We Support

Complete Coverage Across the VMware Stack

Our engineers specialise in every major VMware product line. If you run it, we support it.

vSphere & ESXi

All versions from 6.0 through 8.x. Perpetual and subscription licences. Including vCenter Server, vSAN, and full hypervisor stack support.

vSAN

All vSAN versions including 6.x, 7.x, and 8.x. Cluster design, failure recovery, performance tuning, and storage optimisation.

NSX-T & NSX-V

NSX-V and NSX-T (all versions). Network virtualisation, security policies, micro-segmentation, and edge services.

VMware Horizon

Horizon View, Horizon Apps, and integrated desktop/app delivery. Session management, performance optimisation, and troubleshooting.

vRealize Suite

vRealize Operations, Log Insight, Automation, and related tools. Infrastructure management, monitoring, and automation platform support.

VMware Tanzu

Kubernetes and container platform support. Tanzu Kubernetes Grid, Tanzu Mission Control, and enterprise container solutions.

The Transition Process

From Broadcom to GoVendorFree in 4 Steps

We manage the entire transition. Most clients complete it in 30–60 days with zero disruption to production infrastructure.

Environment Assessment

We document your complete VMware environment — all vSphere clusters, vSAN configurations, NSX deployments, Horizon estates, and integrations. This becomes your support baseline.

Coverage Design

We design support coverage that matches your actual infrastructure — not Broadcom's bundled add-ons. You pay for what you use, not what Broadcom forces into contracts.

Parallel Validation

We activate GoVendorFree support while Broadcom remains active. This parallel period (typically 30 days) validates our coverage and response times before any cutover.

Broadcom Disengagement

We guide you through proper Broadcom contract termination, handling exit documentation and avoiding reinstatement fees. Zero production impact.

Client Results

VMware Support Savings. Real Numbers.

Client identities protected by request. These results are documented and verifiable.

$3.2M
Saved in Year 1

Global Technology Company — vSphere + vSAN + NSX-T

$4.1M annual Broadcom VMware cost (post-acquisition increase) replaced with $900K GoVendorFree coverage. Same vSphere 8.x, same vSAN cluster, same NSX-T deployments. Transitioned in 45 days. Zero downtime. Named engineers replaced ticket queues.

85%
Cost Reduction

Healthcare Network — Horizon + vSphere + vRealize

$1.8M Broadcom support contract covering Horizon desktops, vSphere clusters, and vRealize monitoring. GoVendorFree provided identical coverage for $270K annually. Same performance, better response times (15-minute SLA vs day-long Broadcom waits).

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Frequently Asked Questions

VMware Support: Your Questions Answered

Yes. Third-party support is completely legal. You own your perpetual VMware software licences and are free to obtain support from any provider. Broadcom cannot revoke your right to run software you have legitimately purchased. Thousands of enterprises globally use third-party VMware support.
We support vSphere (all versions 6.0–8.x), vSAN, NSX-T and NSX-V, VMware Horizon, vRealize Suite (Operations, Log Insight, Automation), vCenter Server, ESXi, Tanzu, and most other VMware enterprise products both on-premise and in hybrid deployments.
We provide our own security updates and patches for supported VMware software versions. This includes critical security patches, vulnerability updates, and custom patches for your specific environment. You are not exposed by leaving Broadcom's patch distribution.
Most clients complete the transition from Broadcom VMware support to GoVendorFree in 30–60 days with no downtime. We manage the entire disengagement process, configure our support systems to match your environment, and run a parallel support period to validate coverage before cutover.
Broadcom audits are based on licence compliance, not support contracts. If you are compliant with your VMware licence terms, leaving support has no bearing on audit risk. We advise all clients on licence compliance posture as part of our onboarding process.

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