Millions saved over two years
Significant savings on VMware software and support spend over two years, by moving to independent third-party support.
SoftwareOne case study
A travel technology company takes control of its VMware costs
When Broadcom changed its VMware renewal pricing, a global travel technology company turned to SoftwareOne to find a better, lower-cost path.
Some of the world's most demanding digital services run on VMware, and few estates are larger or more critical than those behind global travel. A global travel technology company that operates a very large data center estate relied on VMware to keep its systems running. When Broadcom acquired VMware and moved to change the commercial terms, the company faced the prospect of a much bigger bill, at the very time it was planning to move to the cloud over the next few years. It did not want to pay a premium to renew software it intended to retire. The company asked SoftwareOne to help it find a smarter way forward, one that cut cost without putting its systems at risk.
VMware support costs under control
The company took back control of its VMware support costs after Broadcom changed the commercial terms.
Done in under three months
From first conversation to completed agreement in under three months, including a successful external audit and security review.
- Client
- A global travel technology company that runs a very large data center estate
- Industry
- Travel and tourism
- Services
- VMware Advisory Services
A sudden VMware price change, mid cloud migration
In 2022, the company signed a multi-year VMware contract that included a renewal option designed to protect its pricing when the agreement expired in 2025. That kind of certainty matters when software sits at the core of a business that cannot afford downtime.
Then the ground shifted. After Broadcom acquired VMware, the company was told, in an official letter late in 2024, that the agreed renewal pricing would no longer stand and that a new financial offer would follow. For an estate of this size, that pointed to a substantial increase in cost.
The timing made it harder still. The company was already planning to move to the cloud over the next few years, so a large new VMware commitment would mean paying a premium to renew software it intended to decommission. What it needed was a way to keep its VMware environment fully supported through that transition, while bringing the cost back under control. It turned to SoftwareOne to find that path.
Advisory, negotiation, and a third-party support route
SoftwareOne started with its VMware Advisory Service, assessing the company's licensing and compliance position so that any decision rested on solid ground. When Broadcom set aside the renewal option and proposed new terms, SoftwareOne looked beyond a straight renewal to options that fit the company's cost-saving goals and its plan to move to the cloud.
The answer was independent third-party support. By moving support of its VMware estate to a specialist provider, the company could reduce cost while keeping full technical support through the years it would take to decommission and migrate. SoftwareOne and the company defined the scope together, aligning it to the VMware roadmap and to where the business was heading, so the arrangement covered exactly what was needed and nothing that was not.
The scope was substantial. It spanned several thousand VMware CPUs and a broad range of components, from core virtualization to networking and management, across multiple software versions. SoftwareOne guided the company through the negotiation with VMware and the configuration of the third-party support solution, keeping both moving in parallel.
The process was thorough and fast. Over a series of onsite workshops, the teams worked through detailed technical and security questions, and the arrangement was reviewed with the company's external auditor and passed. Every technical, security, and compliance point was resolved successfully, and in record time.
Rethink your VMware costs
Talk to our experts about VMware advisory, negotiation, and third-party support options that cut cost while keeping your estate fully supported.
Rethink your VMware costs
Talk to our experts about VMware advisory, negotiation, and third-party support options that cut cost while keeping your estate fully supported.
What made the difference was looking past the obvious. A straight renewal would have been the simplest path, and the most expensive. By assessing the position first, then aligning the answer to where the business was actually going, SoftwareOne turned a forced price increase into an opportunity to cut cost and take back control. The speed mattered too: handling the technical, security, and audit questions quickly meant the company reached certainty without a drawn-out process hanging over it.
Millions saved, and VMware costs back in hand
The company avoided a costly forced renewal and instead saved millions over the two-year period, while keeping its VMware estate fully supported. Rather than paying a premium to renew software it plans to retire, it now has the technical support it needs to run and gradually decommission that estate as it moves to the cloud, at a cost it controls.
Just as important is the confidence behind the decision. Because SoftwareOne assessed the licensing position first and worked through every technical, security, and compliance question, including a successful review with the company's external auditor, the move to third-party support was made on solid ground, not as a gamble. And it was done quickly, from first conversation to completed agreement in under three months.
The result is a company back in control of its VMware costs at a pivotal moment. It has the breathing room and the budget to focus on its cloud migration, rather than absorbing an unplanned increase for software on its way out. A change that could have been a costly setback became a well-managed saving.
This is what good advisory looks like in practice. The easy response to a vendor price rise is to pay it. The better response is to step back, check the facts, and align the answer to where the business is going. By doing that, and by moving fast without cutting corners on security or compliance, SoftwareOne helped the company turn an unwelcome surprise into millions in savings and lasting control of its VMware costs.
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