Broadcom and Amazon's Partnership Hits a Snag: AWS to Stop Selling VMware Cloud

Recently, Amazon's cloud computing platform, AWS, sent promotional offers to some customers, encouraging them to migrate their VMware Cloud on AWS workloads to native AWS services. AWS also published supporting documents to guide customers on how to migrate their VMware virtual machines to AWS EC2 servers.

This news has sparked concerns among customers, wondering if Broadcom's acquisition of VMware has led to a rift in their partnership with Amazon, and whether AWS will stop offering VMware Cloud on AWS services in the future.

Broadcom has officially clarified the situation, confirming that their partnership with Amazon has indeed hit a snag, and VMware Cloud on AWS will no longer be sold directly by AWS.

In 2016, VMware and Amazon partnered to launch VMware Cloud on AWS, a hybrid cloud service that allows enterprises to deploy their applications on a mixed architecture of private cloud or AWS public cloud.

The underlying technology of VMware Cloud on AWS is based on VMware's SDDC software stack, which enables the migration and extension of internal vSphere-based environments to AWS EC2 servers, essentially accelerating enterprise cloud adoption.

So, what's the issue now? The answer is that after Broadcom's acquisition of VMware, AWS will no longer sell VMware Cloud on AWS products to customers, and instead, Broadcom or its partners will provide sales services.

Previously, VMware Cloud on AWS was sold to customers by AWS or its technology partners, who provided pre-sales consulting, contract signing, and post-sales technical support. In this arrangement, AWS earned a significant share of the sales revenue, and customers had to pay both VMware Cloud on AWS licensing fees and AWS server fees.

Now, Broadcom wants to keep more profits for itself, and will no longer rely on AWS for sales services. Existing VMware Cloud on AWS customers will need to sign new contracts directly with Broadcom when their current contracts expire.

This is also why AWS is now encouraging customers to abandon VMware Cloud on AWS and switch to native AWS EC2 services. Broadcom's move is seen as a blow to AWS, which cannot afford to lose the revenue.

However, Broadcom has emphasized that customers can continue to use VMware Cloud on AWS services, which will not be discontinued. The only change is in the contract aspect, with minimal impact on other aspects.