VMware resell partners in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) will see the lowest tier in VMware’s partner program removed in May 2026 as the Broadcom Advantage Partner Program gets rolled out globally.

“The Registered tier will go away in May in EMEA,” said Laura Falko, Broadcom’s global partner program leader.

“So those [EMEA Registered] partners will either exit or they will be re-levelled to the Select tier level,” said Falko, head of global partner marketing and Broadcom’s partner program office.

Broadcom is reducing its four-tier Broadcom Advantage Partner Program for VMware resellers—Registered, Select, Premier and Pinnacle—into three tiers in EMEA this May, eliminating its lowest Registered partner tier completely.

More than two years after Broadcom took over VMware, the virtualisation company’s customers are still grappling with higher prices, uncertainty, and the challenges of reducing vendor lock-in.

CloudBolt Software have released a report, “The Mass Exodus That Never Was: The Squeeze Is Just Beginning” that provides insight into those struggles. CloudBolt is a hybrid cloud management platform provider that aims to identify VMware customers’ pain points so it can sell them relevant solutions. In the report, CloudBolt said it surveyed 302 IT decision-makers (director-level or higher) at North American companies with at least 1,000 employees in January. The survey is far from comprehensive, but it offers a look at the obstacles these users face.

Broadcom closed its VMware acquisition in November 2023, and last month, 88 percent of survey respondents still described the change as “disruptive.” Per the survey, the most cited drivers of disruption were price increases (named by 89 percent of respondents), followed by uncertainty about Broadcom’s plans (85 percent), support quality concerns (78 percent), Broadcom shifting VMware from perpetual licenses to subscriptions (72 percent), changes to VMware’s partner program (68 percent), and the forced bundling of products (65 percent).

When Broadcom bought VMware, some customers shared horror stories about receiving quotes that showed prices increasing by as much as 1,000 percent. CloudBolt’s survey paints a more modest picture. Fourteen percent of respondents said their VMware costs have at least doubled, while 12 percent reported increases of 50–99 percent, 33 percent reported increases of 24–49 percent, and 31 percent reported increases of less than 25 percent.

Despite survey participants suggesting smaller price hikes than originally anticipated under Broadcom, companies are still struggling with the pricing changes. Eighty-five percent are concerned that VMware will become even more expensive, according to CloudBolt’s survey.

VMware appears to have won an early procedural victory in its lawsuit against Siemens. The judge ruled in favour of VMware’s position that the US court has jurisdiction, despite Siemens’s request to move the case to Germany.

The case began in March 2025, when VMware discovered that Siemens’s US branch had provided a list of software that included many more products than had been licensed. VMware sued Siemens because, according to VMware, the industrial group refused to cooperate with a license audit and demanded that VMware provide extended product support for potentially unlicensed software.

Siemens referred to contracts that, according to the company, stipulate that disputes must be heard in German courts. VMware, on the other hand, argued that the alleged use of unlicensed software occurred in the US, giving US courts proper jurisdiction.

On Tuesday, Judge D. Hatcher of the Delaware District Court indicated her support for VMware’s argument. She published a Report and Recommendation stating that Siemens’s attempt to move the case to Germany should be rejected.

Such reports indicate the logic and precedents that are likely to influence a future decision. Both parties have 14 days to file objections, but those submissions are limited to ten pages. This restriction is intended to force those involved in the lawsuit to focus on the issues in the report rather than exploring new arguments.

The lawsuit against Siemens is not an isolated incident. Broadcom has intensified its VMware license audits since the acquisition. The company moved away from perpetual licenses and is forcing customers to switch to expensive subscription bundles. This has led to tensions with several large organisations.

For VMware, the case against Siemens appears to be proceeding in the desired court for now. The virtualisation giant can now continue to litigate in the US over the alleged use of unlicensed software. Whether Siemens will still object to the judge’s recommendation will become clear in the next two weeks.

Broadcom has once again made sweeping changes to the VMware partner ecosystem. This time, it is mainly European cloud service providers that are feeling the impact. Many parties that provide VMware services through the VMware Cloud Service Provider (VSCP) program are losing their partner status. This means that they can fulfil their existing contracts, but are no longer allowed to enter into renewals or new long-term commitments. Moreover, the time to complete ongoing deals is limited.

According to The Register, this affects hundreds of cloud providers across Europe. For customers, this could result in a forced reorientation of their supplier, with potentially significant consequences for existing environments, contracts, and long-term plans.

The move is part of a broader course correction that Broadcom had already initiated after the acquisition of VMware. At the beginning of 2024, existing reseller and solution provider programs were terminated and replaced by a model in which partners can only participate in the Broadcom Advantage Partner Program by invitation. At the same time, Broadcom radically changed its licensing model, with new bundles and modified terms for customers with perpetual licenses.

The US General Services Administration is flogging discounts of up to 64 percent under a OneGov Agreement covering Broadcom’s VMware portfolio – though the actual hypervisor that made VMware famous isn’t included.

The framework covers VMware Tanzu Platform, Tanzu Data Intelligence, Avi Load Balancer, vDefend, and the Tanzu AI Starter Kit. Notably absent: VMware vSphere Foundation, the virtualisation platform most agencies actually use.

“This agreement represents another major milestone under the OneGov initiative and advances President Trump’s call to accelerate AI adoption across government,” said Josh Gruenbaum, Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner.

Broadcom framed the deal as helping agencies extract more value from existing investments in its private cloud platform while “achieving zero trust through multi-layer defense-in-depth.”

Those existing investments are considerable. The US Army and other agencies signed a reportedly $477 million blanket purchase agreement for VMware licenses in 2024, while the Navy inked a $173 million deal. Last year, the Defense Information Systems Agency signed a contract pegged at nearly $1 billion, delivered via Carahsoft.

The discounts secured by the GSA expire in May 2027, giving Federal tech teams limited time to decide whether to hitch their container, security, or AI strategies to Broadcom’s wagon.

That might not be a decision to rush.

Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware continues generating some customer fallout, with license and product changes prompting customers large and small to reconsider their commitment to the platform.

These include UK supermarket giant Tesco, which sued Broadcom and one of Europe’s largest resellers Computacenter “for not honouring a contract that gave the supermarket giant the option to acquire software at pre-determined prices and ongoing software support services.”

Computacenter in turn filed a claim against Broadcom and Dell, arguing that the companies – software supplier and distributor respectively – had not fulfilled their contractual obligations to the reseller.

Other upset customers included AT&T, Siemens, and the Dutch Government.

None of that has deflected Broadcom from its strategy of disruption and focusing on the biggest customers. Just last month it yanked its VMware vSphere Foundation bundle in parts of EMEA, a decision that could particularly hurt smaller customers.

Dell has filed a claim against VMware in the software licensing dispute brought by supermarket giant Tesco and wants the virtualisation giant should fork over at least £10 million under certain circumstances.

As reported last year, Tesco sued VMware’s owner Broadcom and reseller Computacenter for not providing software licenses and support services the retail giant believes it is entitled to under a 2021 contract.

That deal saw Tesco acquire perpetual licenses for VMware software, services, plus software upgrade rights and the right to extend its services contract. Under Broadcom’s ownership, VMware only sells subscriptions and won’t sell or extend support contracts for customers who continue to use perpetually licensed software. Tesco acquired its VMware licenses from reseller Computacenter, which the retailer named as a co-defendant for failing to provide software licenses as allegedly contracted.

Computacenter later filed a claim against Broadcom, and against Dell.

When Tesco struck its contract, Dell was a VMware distributor. Computacenter believes its reseller relationship with the hardware giant included an obligation to provide VMware software.

Last week, Dell filed a claim against VMware’s UK and global entities (VMware UK and IL).

“Dell alleges that VMware UK and (in the alternative) VMware IL are subject to obligations to provide certain goods and services … and have breached their obligations to do so,” a court filing states.

Dell therefore wants “damages, specific performance, interest and/or such further or other relief as the Court considers appropriate from VMware,” and claims it “expects to recover more than £10,000,000.”

Dell will only seek the above from VMware if Computacenter succeeds in its action.

Dell has also filed its defence against Computacenter’s claims, in which it argues that its contract with the reseller only required it “to communicate any renewal request made by Tesco to VMware.”

Even that obligation, Dell argues, “was conditional on VMware’s continued willingness to supply the products and services in question and/or on Dell being permitted by VMware to continue to act as an authorised distributor.”

Dell terminated its distribution deal with VMware in 2024, so now can’t provide software to Computacenter or Tesco.

Broadcom is unwilling to supply the products Tesco wants or to support them. The chips and code giant says the software Tesco wants is end of life, no longer on sale, and it therefore can’t be compelled to provide or support it.

All of which leaves Tesco, Broadcom, Computacenter, and Dell in a four-way stand-off.

Tesco’s early filings in the case said VMware’s software is “essential for the operations and resilience of Tesco’s business and its ability to supply groceries to consumers across the UK and Republic of Ireland.”

Broadcom says it tried to offer Tesco a new deal, but that the mega-retailer “failed to meaningfully address” its proposals.

VMware is taking Allstate to federal court, accusing the insurer of obstructing a software licensing audit and ignoring key reporting and record-keeping duties.

In a filing dated December 15, 2025, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, VMware LLC lays out its side of a dispute with Allstate Insurance Company over how the carrier managed, reported and documented its use of VMware software.

The case centres on what VMware claims are breaches of a long‑standing licensing framework that includes a Master End User License Agreement, an Enterprise License Agreement and an amendment to that ELA.

According to the filing, VMware and Allstate entered into a Master End User License Agreement on December 12, 2008. VMware says Section 3.8 of that agreement, titled “Audit Rights,” requires Allstate to maintain accurate records of its use of VMware software for at least two years from the last day on which support and subscription services expired for the applicable software.

The same provision, VMware says, allows VMware or its designees to inspect Allstate’s records and computing devices to verify that the software was used in line with the contract and that all license and support fees were paid. If an audit shows an underpayment of more than 10% for the audited period, Allstate must repay the audit costs as well as any underpaid fees, according to the filing.

The dispute also involves what VMware calls the “ELA Contracts” — an Enterprise License Agreement executed on September 30, 2019, and Amendment No. 1 to that ELA signed on July 29, 2022. VMware says the ELA granted Allstate a license to use certain VMware software for a three‑year period and made clear that Allstate’s use of VMware software remained subject to the Master Agreement.

The 2022 amendment, VMware says, granted Allstate rights to additional VMware software and extended the ELA period to July 29, 2025. Under these agreements, VMware alleges, Allstate was required to report the total number of licenses it deployed on specified dates, to provide additional information reasonably requested to confirm compliance and to maintain accurate records sufficient to show that it and its affiliates followed the terms.

The relationship reportedly soured in 2025. VMware says that on March 4, 2025, it issued a formal audit notice to Allstate under the Master Agreement’s audit clause, telling Allstate that any changes in its environment during the license review process had to be reported promptly. After an introductory call, VMware emailed Allstate on April 11, 2025, saying that audit workstream teams would reach out to schedule kick‑offs. VMware’s audit partner, Connor Consulting, then contacted Allstate on April 16, 2025, and later held an audit kick‑off call on May 5, 2025, providing a technical questionnaire, a deployment detail workbook and scripts.

From there, VMware describes a pattern of delay. Connor Consulting followed up in May 2025, stressing the need to return the technical questionnaire to keep the audit on track. The filing says Allstate acknowledged receiving the materials but said it could not meet the requested timing.

VMware recounts further follow‑ups in May, June and July, including a July 22, 2025 update in which Allstate allegedly identified August 29, 2025 as its target date to return completed audit materials. When that date arrived, VMware says, Allstate still had not provided the promised information.

In September, things took a sharper turn. On September 12, 2025, according to VMware, Allstate told its consultant that VMware had been “removed from all devices” and that Allstate could not execute the scripts because they depended on “having VMware components running in the environment.” Allstate also said it had “no access to data” and was unable to populate the technical questionnaire, VMware says. Allstate did send a technical questionnaire for a “NatGen VMware ELA” environment, but VMware characterises it as “woefully incomplete.” A follow‑up email from VMware’s consultant on September 15, 2025, with additional questions, reportedly went unanswered.

On October 1, 2025, Allstate informed VMware that “all VMware instances have been terminated and removed from Allstate’s VMware ELA environment” and declared the audit “complete and satisfied, in compliance with the contractual entitlements, with no further action or obligation from Allstate,” the filing states. Allstate also redirected future correspondence to counsel.

VMware contends that terminating VMware instances and unilaterally declaring the audit complete does not relieve Allstate of its obligations to maintain accurate records, provide required deployment reports and permit an audit for the ELA period.

The company says Allstate’s conduct has impaired its ability to verify whether Allstate underpaid fees for the audited period or otherwise failed to comply with the agreements, and notes that if an audit reveals an underpayment of more than 10%, Allstate would be required to cover VMware’s audit costs in addition to any unpaid amounts.

VMware is asking the court for damages in an amount to be determined at trial, an order requiring Allstate to provide complete access to records, data, systems, computing devices and other materials necessary to verify compliance, and an injunction barring Allstate from destroying, altering or concealing relevant records. It is also seeking a declaratory judgement that the Master Agreement and ELA Contracts should be interpreted in line with VMware’s view and that Allstate’s contrary position is without merit.