VMware quietly extends European sales and support for low-end vSphere

VMware has quietly extended sales and support for low-end vSphere Standard and Enterprise Plus version 8 for customers in the European Economic Area. The products will remain available for sale until October 31, 2027, and extended support will be included in active subscriptions until the earlier of the subscription end date or October 31, 2028. The move was disclosed in a November 4 blog post that also announced the new vSphere Express product.

What VMware announced

For customers in the European Economic Area, vSphere Standard and vSphere Enterprise Plus version 8 stay on sale until October 31, 2027, with Extended Support in active subscriptions until the earlier of the subscription end date or October 31, 2028. That support date is more than a year past the October 11, 2027 end-of-general-support date for the more capable vSphere 8 and Cloud Foundation 5.x products. The extension paragraph was not included in the version of the post VMware shared with The Register.

Analyst reaction

Independent analyst Michael Warrilow said the change could be positive for organizations in the European Economic Area because it may provide up to an extra 12 months to transition vSphere 8 to VCF 9 or migrate workloads to another platform. He also said European users should seek absolute clarity from VMware about the specifics of the offer, including what level of extended support will be provided and what longer-term commitments will be required. Warrilow said he could not find that detail.

He also questioned why VMware will keep selling vSphere Standard only in Europe and suggested regulatory muscle may be the reason. He wondered whether VMware might change its policy in other countries and encouraged organizations elsewhere to rally industry associations and user groups and lobby regulators in their jurisdictions. Warrilow said the decision ultimately buys a little more time to upgrade or migrate.

Regulatory backdrop

Regulators around the world cleared Broadcom's acquisition of VMware, but authorities in Europe have since revisited the matter. Lobby group Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE) has succeeded in having the European Commission open an antitrust investigation into whether VMware's channel changes inappropriately shaped the cloud infrastructure provider market. In the Netherlands, local courts enforced a VMware support contract of the sort that Broadcom has tried to walk away from at other users.

Support and quoting history

VMware has promised in the past to make patches available for users who choose to persist with perpetual licenses instead of moving to its preferred subscriptions. The Broadcom business unit later paused patch downloads for months, claiming it needed to adjust its website to make them possible. The Register often heard that VMware seldom issued quotes for vSphere Standard or Enterprise Plus, and Paul Turner, chief product officer for VMware's Cloud Foundation Division, told The Register that inappropriate incentives for channel partners caused that situation and that VMware later fixed it. Continental users will be hoping VMware got that effort right.

Sources: The Register