VMware turns its back on small businesses: New licensing policies trigger industry backlash
VMware by Broadcom has officially declared war on small and mid-sized businesses with the rollout of its new licensing policy, set to take effect this April. The policy mandates a minimum purchase of 72 CPU cores for both renewals and new licenses — a move many IT administrators and infrastructure managers view as a blatant dismissal of long-standing loyal customers in favor of massive enterprise accounts.
Previously, VMware allowed businesses to license per socket, giving flexibility to scale based on real needs. Now, even if a company only requires 32 or 48 cores, it will be forced to pay for 72. To make matters worse, Broadcom has introduced a 20% penalty for late renewals, pushing even more financial pressure onto already constrained IT budgets.