TECHNOLOGY · VERIFIED DEVELOPMENT
VMware’s Subscription Shift Leaves SMBs Struggling
WHY IT MATTERS
The move forces SMBs to absorb higher costs or switch vendors, tightening their IT budgets and potentially slowing adoption of VMware’s platform in the small‑business market.
What happened
After Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware, the company stopped selling perpetual licenses and moved to subscription‑based bundles. The flagship private‑cloud package, VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), has become expensive and packed with features many small‑to‑medium‑sized businesses (SMBs) find unnecessary.
Reports from SMB customers say sales representatives continue to push VCF and claim that the lower‑priced vSphere Standard edition is no longer available.
As a result, SMBs are either paying higher subscription fees or looking for alternative virtualization solutions.
PRIMARY SOURCES
“Trust, not features, is the real deficit”: VMware tries to appease SMBs
Ars Technica · Scharon Harding · Discovery only; Condé Nast copyright terms apply