There is a new spirit of optimism among South Africa’s VMware channel partners, as more of them receive their invitations to join the Broadcom partner programme.
Just over a month after partners received letters informing them of the termination of their contracts under the VMware programme, it seems that most key VMware partners in the country will move over to the invitation-only Broadcom partner programme from Monday (5 February).
Speaking off-the-record to IT-Online, some partners have expressed satisfaction at the way the situation has panned out, with the new programme catering to partners that regularly transact in VMware solutions, and cloud-based services and solutions now also more accessible for all partners and customers.
The initial concern over the termination notices was fuelled by a lack of communication from Broadcom. Attempts by IT-Online for clarification and comment were largely unsuccessful, and partners around the world expressed similar frustrations.
Monday is also the deadline for perpetual license sales to end. Early in December, Broadcom announced that it is heavily culling the VMware solution offerings, and shifting all software to a subscription-based model.
Initial projections from some partners indicate that this model will be more cost-effective for customers, easier to manage, and offer additional services.
All VMware Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) have also been put on notice that the programme allowing partners to sell VMware cloud services will be terminated at the end of April, to be replaced by a new invitation-only programme.
There’s no official announcement on this programme yet, but it’s believed that most if not all of the top VMware CSPs in South Africa will retain their status.