Broadcom's acquisition of VMware is going almost exactly as expected when the deal was announced in May 2022.
Customers are actively moving many low value workloads off VMware, but most mission-critical work is staying put, allowing Broadcom to integrate VMware into its highly successful business model.
Broadcom is marketing the economic benefits of going all-in on the VMware Cloud Foundation bundle despite negative sentiment in the press and social media.
Broadcom has done extensive total-cost-of-ownership and economic analysis which appears quite defensible, assuming customers go all-in on VCF.
Broadcom has significant upside to its VMware business if it can convince customers to stay with its VCF bundle.
Several industry surveys indicate a large percentage of customers are looking to migrate off VMware, but migrations are nontrivial and almost always more expensive than staying put.
Broadcom is executing ahead of expectations on its VMware progress and is establishing the basis for a long-term platform asset that will be an industry force for the next decade and perhaps beyond.
Customers should keep the roadmap of Broadcom in mind, negotiate the best deal, and identify low-value/low-risk workloads that can be easily moved to an alternative.
Understand VMware’s AI roadmap and spend ample time evaluating its ecosystem partners' approach when it comes to data feeding AI.
Broadcom's non-GAAP operating margins are historically above 60% and four to six times better those of most virtualization competitors/partners (e.g. Dell, Nutanix, Red Hat/IBM, HPE and so on).