Responding to Broadcom VMware Licensing Changes

What changed in VMware licensing after Broadcom, what to check before renewal, and your options to renew, consolidate or migrate.

VMware licensing changed substantially after the Broadcom acquisition. If a renewal is coming, here is what to check and which options you have. Prices and terms change often, so confirm them with your supplier.

What changed

  • Perpetual licenses are no longer sold; licensing moved to subscriptions.
  • Many separate products were folded into bundles such as VCF and VVF, so you may pay for features you do not use.
  • Charging is per physical core with a 16-core minimum per CPU, so smaller CPUs still count as 16 cores.

Check before renewal

  • Expiry date: if you may migrate, plan backwards from it.
  • Total cores: count CPUs and cores per host and recalculate the subscription.
  • Features in use: separate what you truly need among vMotion, HA, DRS, vSAN and NSX.
  • Hardware refresh: aligning it with a platform change reduces the burden.

Your options

  • Renew: when migration risk and cost are high, or you rely heavily on VMware-only features.
  • Consolidate and renew: reduce hosts and cores and keep part of the estate.
  • Phased migration: start with less critical VMs and finish before the next renewal.
  • Full migration: when renewal cost is heavy and dependence on VMware-only features is low.