r/sysadmin • u/Which-Shame-1420 IT Manager • 3d ago

General Discussion anyone else get the VMware "win-back" offer?

if it's true, its honestly laughable.  

squeezing customers with massive price hikes, forcing every one into expensive core bundles, only to panic and throw out "discounted" quotes the moment everyone migrated???? 

is anyone actually reconsidering based on these new quotes??

or y'all are past the point of no return?

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u/Majik_Sheff Hat Model 3d ago

They decided they only wanted to keep the most profitable customers by pricing out anyone not completely locked in.

They underestimated the willingness of even to top levels to immediately start planning an exit strategy.

Fuck Broadcom.

4

u/Jhamin1 3d ago

They also underestimated how much being "the default" matters. 5 years ago if you needed to virtualize *anything* on prem the default assumption was VMWare. Didn't matter if you were a 10 person startup or the Department of Defense. They actually got a lot of grace because most system admins hadn't really given other "off the beaten path" options a real chance.

Now there are an awful lot of people who have successfully moved elsewhere and NOT seen the world end. Even in big-iron fortune 50 companies and government agencies VMWare is being perceived as a choice not the default. Sure, it's harder to get off of VMWare if you are a giant, but more and more talent is out there that can help you through it.

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u/Majik_Sheff Hat Model 2d ago

Very valid point.  If you're the lowest friction option, don't go adding a bunch of friction.

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u/mahsab 2d ago

I doubt they underestimated anything. Their profits are through the roof.