Uncle Sam's VMware 'bargain' doesn't include the actual hypervisor
(2026/01/22)
- Reference: 1769090411
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/01/22/us_gov_gets_broadcom_discount/
- Source link:
The US General Services Administration is flogging discounts of up to 64 percent under a OneGov Agreement covering Broadcom's VMware portfolio – though the actual hypervisor that made VMware famous isn't included.
The [1]framework covers VMware Tanzu Platform, Tanzu Data Intelligence, Avi Load Balancer, vDefend, and the Tanzu AI Starter Kit. Notably absent: VMware vSphere Foundation, the virtualization platform most agencies actually use.
VMware's in court again. Customer relationships rarely go this wrong [2]READ MORE
"This agreement represents another major milestone under the OneGov initiative and advances President Trump's call to accelerate AI adoption across government," said Josh Gruenbaum, Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner.
Broadcom framed the deal as helping agencies extract more value from existing investments in its private cloud platform while "achieving zero trust through multi-layer defense-in-depth."
Those existing investments are considerable. The US Army and other agencies signed a reportedly $477 million blanket purchase agreement for VMware licenses in 2024, while the Navy inked a $173 million deal. Last year, the Defense Information Systems Agency [3]signed a contract pegged at nearly $1 billion , delivered via Carahsoft.
[4]
The discounts secured by the GSA expire in May 2027, giving Federal tech teams limited time to decide whether to hitch their container, security, or AI strategies to Broadcom's wagon.
[5]
[6]
That might not be a decision to rush.
Broadcom's acquisition of VMware continues generating some customer fallout, with license and product changes prompting customers large and small to reconsider their commitment to the platform.
[7]
These include UK supermarket giant Tesco, which [8]sued Broadcom and one of Europe's largest resellers Computacenter "for not honoring a contract that gave the supermarket giant the option to acquire software at pre-determined prices and ongoing software support services."
[9]Dell wants £10m+ from VMware if Tesco case goes against it
[10]VMware price hikes? Between 800 and 1,500%, claim Euro customers
[11]Telefónica Germany offloads VMware support to Spinnaker due to high renewal costs
[12]Proxmox delivers its software-defined datacenter contender and VMware escape hatch
[13]VMware isn't budging in its pursuit of Siemens for alleged unpaid licenses
[14]Broadcom's answer to VMware pricing outrage: You're using it wrong
Computacenter in turn [15]filed a claim against Broadcom and Dell , arguing that the companies – software supplier and distributor respectively – had not fulfilled their contractual obligations to the reseller.
Other upset customers included [16]AT&T , [17]Siemens , and the [18]Dutch Government .
None of that has deflected Broadcom from its strategy of disruption and focusing on the biggest customers. Just last month it [19]yanked its VMware vSphere Foundation bundle in parts of EMEA , a decision that could particularly hurt smaller customers. ®
Get our [20]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.gsa.gov/about-us/newsroom/news-releases/gsa-and-broadcom-onegov-agreement-saves-taxpayer-dollars-01212026
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/08/vmware_in_court_opinion/
[3] https://www.govconwire.com/articles/carahsoft-wins-a-172-8m-bpa-to-provide-the-navy-with-vmware-by-broadcom-products-and-services
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aXJXv2UpTMwko5BdQgwWZwAAAkg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXJXv2UpTMwko5BdQgwWZwAAAkg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aXJXv2UpTMwko5BdQgwWZwAAAkg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXJXv2UpTMwko5BdQgwWZwAAAkg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/03/tesco_sues_vmware_broadcom_computacenter/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/15/dell_vmware_claim_tesco_case/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/22/euro_cloud_body_ecco_says_broadcom_licensing_unfair/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/11/telefnica_germany_shifts_vmware_support/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/05/proxmox_datacenter_manager_1_stable/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/28/vmware_vs_siemens_fresh_filings/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/20/vmware_price_hikes_excuse/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/28/tesco_vs_broadcom_vmware_update/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/05/att_sues_broadcom_vmware_support/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/28/vmware_vs_siemens_fresh_filings/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/30/dutch_agency_wins_right_to/
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/11/vmware_kills_vsphere_foundation_parts_emea/
[20] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The [1]framework covers VMware Tanzu Platform, Tanzu Data Intelligence, Avi Load Balancer, vDefend, and the Tanzu AI Starter Kit. Notably absent: VMware vSphere Foundation, the virtualization platform most agencies actually use.
VMware's in court again. Customer relationships rarely go this wrong [2]READ MORE
"This agreement represents another major milestone under the OneGov initiative and advances President Trump's call to accelerate AI adoption across government," said Josh Gruenbaum, Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner.
Broadcom framed the deal as helping agencies extract more value from existing investments in its private cloud platform while "achieving zero trust through multi-layer defense-in-depth."
Those existing investments are considerable. The US Army and other agencies signed a reportedly $477 million blanket purchase agreement for VMware licenses in 2024, while the Navy inked a $173 million deal. Last year, the Defense Information Systems Agency [3]signed a contract pegged at nearly $1 billion , delivered via Carahsoft.
[4]
The discounts secured by the GSA expire in May 2027, giving Federal tech teams limited time to decide whether to hitch their container, security, or AI strategies to Broadcom's wagon.
[5]
[6]
That might not be a decision to rush.
Broadcom's acquisition of VMware continues generating some customer fallout, with license and product changes prompting customers large and small to reconsider their commitment to the platform.
[7]
These include UK supermarket giant Tesco, which [8]sued Broadcom and one of Europe's largest resellers Computacenter "for not honoring a contract that gave the supermarket giant the option to acquire software at pre-determined prices and ongoing software support services."
[9]Dell wants £10m+ from VMware if Tesco case goes against it
[10]VMware price hikes? Between 800 and 1,500%, claim Euro customers
[11]Telefónica Germany offloads VMware support to Spinnaker due to high renewal costs
[12]Proxmox delivers its software-defined datacenter contender and VMware escape hatch
[13]VMware isn't budging in its pursuit of Siemens for alleged unpaid licenses
[14]Broadcom's answer to VMware pricing outrage: You're using it wrong
Computacenter in turn [15]filed a claim against Broadcom and Dell , arguing that the companies – software supplier and distributor respectively – had not fulfilled their contractual obligations to the reseller.
Other upset customers included [16]AT&T , [17]Siemens , and the [18]Dutch Government .
None of that has deflected Broadcom from its strategy of disruption and focusing on the biggest customers. Just last month it [19]yanked its VMware vSphere Foundation bundle in parts of EMEA , a decision that could particularly hurt smaller customers. ®
Get our [20]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.gsa.gov/about-us/newsroom/news-releases/gsa-and-broadcom-onegov-agreement-saves-taxpayer-dollars-01212026
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/08/vmware_in_court_opinion/
[3] https://www.govconwire.com/articles/carahsoft-wins-a-172-8m-bpa-to-provide-the-navy-with-vmware-by-broadcom-products-and-services
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aXJXv2UpTMwko5BdQgwWZwAAAkg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXJXv2UpTMwko5BdQgwWZwAAAkg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aXJXv2UpTMwko5BdQgwWZwAAAkg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXJXv2UpTMwko5BdQgwWZwAAAkg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/03/tesco_sues_vmware_broadcom_computacenter/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/15/dell_vmware_claim_tesco_case/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/22/euro_cloud_body_ecco_says_broadcom_licensing_unfair/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/11/telefnica_germany_shifts_vmware_support/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/05/proxmox_datacenter_manager_1_stable/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/28/vmware_vs_siemens_fresh_filings/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/20/vmware_price_hikes_excuse/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/28/tesco_vs_broadcom_vmware_update/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/05/att_sues_broadcom_vmware_support/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/28/vmware_vs_siemens_fresh_filings/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/30/dutch_agency_wins_right_to/
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/11/vmware_kills_vsphere_foundation_parts_emea/
[20] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Gordon 10
Some moron in Procurement is going to have an "oh f**k" moment when the head of IT tears them a new one...
Charlie Clark
Good job all the managers that might notice have been fired in the name of efficiency…
Anonymous Coward
"achieving zero trust"
Well that does seem to be the whole purpose of the current administration.
Making America Grate Again
What a surprise
Trump/Doge made another crap deal. Anyone surprised?