Node4 Steps In as Broadcom Pulls Plug on Smaller VMware Partners

When Broadcom announced in June that it would cut its smallest, lowest-revenue VMware partners from the Broadcom Advantage Partner Program to focus on its most profitable ones, other vendors quickly stepped in to fill the gap.

Node4, a VMware cloud provider in the UK, is among the latest cloud services vendors to work with smaller VMware resellers, distributors, and service providers that were abandoned by Broadcom.

Node4’s plan is simple, Phil Alton, sales director at Node4 Channel, the channel arm of Node4, told ChannelE2E.

“Node4 has enhanced its existing partner offering in direct response to the recent Broadcom announcement around its partner model,” said Alton. “We have developed three operating models, designed to give MSPs and Cloud Service Providers a smooth transition to a different way of consuming VMware whilst delivering enhanced customer outcomes. We aim to provide continuity and innovative options for partners in a changing market.”

Broadcom is closing its Broadcom Advantage Partner Program for many VMware Cloud Service Provider (VCSP) partners on October 31, but partners with existing signed cloud hosting agreements will be able to continue to get services from Broadcom and VMware through March 31, 2027.

But after that date, MSPs and other service providers that white-label and deliver VMware services on their own hardware will have to find alternate arrangements through other vendors, which is how Node4 and others are marketing their capabilities.

“This approach focuses on minimizing disruption while allowing the affected partners to optimize their VMware investments and continue to deliver services through the technologies they know and trust, while ensuring scale, flexibility, and long-term confidence,” said Alton. “Early engagement with our partner community has been very positive, with recognition that Node4 is taking a different approach: one that supports their business models, maintains choice, and strengthens continuity for their customers.”

To assist customers with the upcoming Broadcom changes, Alton said his company commits to uphold all current agreements until their 2027 expiration for service providers who bring their workloads to Node4, while also providing extra VMware Cloud Foundation capacity as needed and contingent on meeting service minimums.

To do this, Node4 plans to offer managed VMware services under its own service frameworks after the March 31, 2027, deadline using Node4-owned hardware, systems, and management. Node4 says it will also provide transition and migration assistance to the channel partners it serves, including VMware Cloud Director Availability-based transitions to modern VMware Cloud Foundation environments running multi-tenancy.

In addition, since Broadcom is also eliminating the ability of smaller channel partners to white-label its VMware products and services, Node4 will provide its own such services to fill in the gaps for impacted partners, while also providing needed migration support.

Broadcom’s $61B Acquisition of VMware in 2023 Brought These Changes

Global semiconductor and infrastructure software giant Broadcom acquired VMware in November 2023 for $61 billion and soon began making changes about how it would handle VMware’s established, then-28,000-strong channel partners and partner program.

The first changes came less than a month later when Broadcom told thousands of VMware resellers, distributors, and service providers that the established VMware partner program, along with its incentives and their status within it, was being terminated and replaced with the Broadcom Advantage Partner Program for VMware Resellers.

But the Broadcom partner program cuts announced just a few months ago in June will have bigger impacts for the smallest partners, completely shutting them out of past sales opportunities.

Partner Migrations Can Be a Common Theme After Acquisitions: Analyst

Rob Enderle, principal analyst of Enderle Group, told ChannelE2E that it is common for mergers and acquisitions to bring major policy and pricing changes, which can open the door for migrations by partners and customers that are suddenly unhappy with what they are getting from the affected vendor.

“Node4 is executing sharply on this opportunity, recognizing high potential for being able to migrate customers away from Broadcom during this time,” said Enderle. “I expect that they will not be alone in taking advantage of this opportunity.”