Concerns over VMware support have surged lately after a serious vulnerability emerged, along with a patch that only applies to specific versions. Now, users might face audits from Broadcom, the company that snagged VMware for $69 billion in 2022.
In 2024, Broadcom stopped selling perpetual software licenses. Their aim? Shift customers toward a subscription model for VMware products. Up to now, organizations with perpetual licenses enjoyed support as per their contracts. But Broadcom has made it crystal clear: renewing those contracts is off the table.
A recent letter shared on ARS Technica reveals that customers who haven’t switched to subscriptions are receiving “cease and desist” notices from Broadcom. It warns that they’ll lose all support for their perpetual licenses unless they make a new purchase. The letter states, “VMware demands that all use of support services associated with VMware software be ceased,” with a few exceptions for critical zero-day patches.
Barry Pilling, a principal consultant at Belittle, commented on LinkedIn that these notices highlight contractual limits. Once support ends, customers lose the right to most updates and patches, except for critical security ones.
Pilling pointed out that many customers have already received audit notices from Broadcom. It appears the company is intensifying its revenue-generating audits. Some clients reported receiving letters just days after their support contracts lapsed, signaling Broadcom’s strict audit strategy.
The message from both the letter and experts like Pilling is straightforward: while VMware customers can keep using their perpetual licenses, they must either switch to a subscription model or rely on third-party support once their support expires.
According to software licensing consultant Redress Compliance, owning software outright is no longer viable—it’s either subscription-based or unsupported.
Previous reports from Computer Weekly suggest that IT departments can keep using VMware with perpetual licenses, provided they can secure the environment, even if it goes unsupported. Third-party support providers, like Rimini Street and Spinnaker Support, have ramped up their VMware services to help businesses maintain secure configurations despite the lack of new patches. In some cases, organizations looking to expand their VMware setups can also find perpetual licenses in the used software market and still receive support from these third-party providers.
