When VMware delivered its Cloud Foundation 9 suite in June, it marked the end of a two-year push to integrate its compute, storage, and networking products. What’s next for the Broadcom business unit? At the VMware Explore conference this week, The Register sniffed out a few other items on its to-do list.

Upgrades for vSphere

VMware still sells two low-end virtualization products - vSphere Standard for test and dev and vSphere Enterprise Plus for basic server virtualization, both of which include the ESX hypervisor and the vCenter virtual machine manager. For those who need more than the basics, VMware also offers vSphere Foundation, which it upgraded to version 9.

vSphere Standard and Enterprise Plus remain unchanged. The Register has learned that VMware plans to upgrade them, but that doing so is well down on its to-do list because it wants to prioritize ongoing work on VMWare Cloud Foundation (VCF).

We often hear that, while vSphere Standard and Enterprise Plus remain on the books, VMware and its distributors are in no rush to quote a price or issue an invoice, and strongly suggest buyers acquire VCF instead.

Arm for future demand

We’ve also learned more about VMware’s plan to [1]port its stack to the Arm architecture .

Opinions differ about the urgency of the port. Some execs we spoke to said that users of VMware’s experimental hypervisor for Arm are keen to see it supported, and for VCF to reach Arm. Others said that these users are superfans whose opinion doesn’t reflect mainstream customers’ total lack of interest in Arm servers for the moment.

VMware is moving ahead regardless, with the aim of being ready to deliver a product once demand starts to grow. Work will initially focus on delivering code that’s good enough for customers who really want it, even though they know it is not yet a full product. Think of it like a RFQ (request for quote) type of product in the old IBM parlance; they'll build and support it for customers who really want it, but don't expect to see it on price lists for a while.

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One party that's very keen for VMware to port its stack to Arm? Nvidia. In a VMware Explore session, Eoin McConnell, the GPU giant’s global lead for the Grace portfolio, said enterprises will be more likely to adopt its Arm-powered Grace servers if they can be managed under VCF.

[3]

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McConnell also said Nvidia expects more OEMs will soon start building servers around its Grace CPUs, and their successors.

[5]VMware before Broadcom was 'a unicorn in fluffy cloudland'

[6]Defiant Broadcom calls for tech to go back where it belongs: On-premises

[7]VMware: The private cloud's main purpose is now keeping developers happy

[8]We all live in a virtual machine, a virtual machine, a virtual machine

Explain ‘supervisor services’ better – because they make VCF extensible

VCF 9 is a runtime for what VMware calls "supervisor services," IaaS-like services that include basics like the ability to provision VMs or containers. Users can add new services to VCF 9 or even make their bespoke apps a service. Third-party apps can also be added as services. For example, users could make their preferred database a service that developers can provision.

VMware knows VCF needs to keep evolving – which is why it just [9]bundled its Private AI services into the product .

However the name "supervisor services" refers to some VCF plumbing, and VMware intends to revisit the moniker so it can promote VCF’s extensibility.

More channel reform

VMware continues to deliver a firm farewell to partners who aren’t all-in on VCF, or who don’t operate clouds that offer the full VCF experience. The company has also made a significant change for smaller partners by extending the deal under which it offers customers free services valued at a tenth of their subscription fees.

VMware tiers its channel partner into three levels – strategic accounts at the peak, corporate in the middle, and commercial accounts at the base of the pyramid. The ten percent services offer now applies to commercial customers because VMware wants smaller customers and partners to join the VCF party. ®

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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/26/vmware_cloud_foundation_arm_port/

[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_specialfeatures/vmwareexplore&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aLDRdDAeBIxAZGLNCQTb_QAAAEw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_specialfeatures/vmwareexplore&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aLDRdDAeBIxAZGLNCQTb_QAAAEw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_specialfeatures/vmwareexplore&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aLDRdDAeBIxAZGLNCQTb_QAAAEw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[5] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/25/yves_sandfort_comdivision_vmware_interview/

[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/26/vmware_explore_vcf_evolution/

[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/27/vmware_private_clouds/

[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/27/vmware_submarine_software_licenses/

[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/26/vmware_explore_vcf_evolution/

[10] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/