Mastermind of Broadcom’s VMware buy is out, CEO Tan to take over software
(2022/07/11)
- Reference: 1657560709
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/07/11/mastermind_of_broadcoms_vmware_buy/
- Source link:
Updated Broadcom CEO Hock Tan will personally oversee his company’s burgeoning software portfolio following the departure of Thomas Krause, the masterminded behind the $61 billion VMware acquisition, later this week.
According to an [1]SEC filing released today, Krause, the president of Broadcom’s software group, will leave the chip giant on Friday to pursue a role at an unnamed enterprise software company. Upon his departure, Tan will assume Krause’s responsibilities, and the position of President of the Broadcom Software Group will be eliminated.
Krause is widely seen as the architect of Broadcom’s proposed VMware acquisition, which he [2]portrayed as the centerpiece of Broadcom’s software strategy in a blog post last month.
[3]
Prior to running Broadcom’s Software Group, a position Krause held for less than two years, he briefly served as VP of corporate development before taking over as CFO from 2016 to 2020.
[4]
[5]
In the SEC filing, Broadcom emphasized that Krause’s departure was “not the result of any disagreement with the company or management on any matter relating to the company’s performance, operations, policies, practices, or financial statements, including its controls or other financial related matters.”
The dissolution of Krause’s position at Broadcom isn’t all that surprising either given the semiconductor giant's previously established plans to merge its software group [6]under the VMware name and incorporate its existing infrastructure and security software holdings — including CA and Symantec — into a single expanded portfolio.
[7]Broadcom's stated strategy ignores most VMware customers
[8]Broadcom sketches out VMware ambitions that stretch from mainframe to cloud
[9]Broadcom's VMware buy got you worried? Give these 5 FOSS hypervisors a spin
[10]Broadcom takeover deal for VMware faces no rival bids
These plans have left VMware employees and customers uneasy about VMware’s future, especially given Broadcom’s track record for focusing on a small subset of large enterprise customers, a strategy for which Krause is directly responsible.
At a Broadcom event in November, Krause offered a glimpse at the [11]corporation's software strategy , which involved pursuing the company’s 600 largest, most regulated, and risk-averse customers, because they’re the least likely to change suppliers.
[12]
Krause’s departure calls into question whether Tan will keep with that strategy or chart a new course with VMware at the helm.
The announcement marks the latest wrinkle in Broadcom’s enduring push into the software sphere. The news comes just a week after Broadcom cleared another hurdle in its bid to subsume the virtualization giant after rival bidders [13]failed to materialize within allotted 40-day “go-shop” period.
Broadcom is now clear to proceed with the transaction, and pending regulatory and shareholder approval – Europe, for one, is sticking a probe into the deal – is expected to close by the end of the chipmaker’s 2023 fiscal year, which ends in November.
[14]
The Register reached out to Broadcom for comment; we’ll let you know if we hear anything back.
Apropos of almost nothing, at the start of July it was announced Chip Childers is joining VMware as Chief Open Source Officer. ®
Updated to add
Krause is joining a [15]combined Citrix and Tibco as chief executive officer, it was [16]announced on Monday.
The Citrix-Tibco merger is expected to complete in the third quarter of 2022, if regulators don't hold it up, which will take Citrix private.
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://investors.broadcom.com/node/60411/html
[2] https://www.broadcom.com/blog/broadcom-vmware
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YsydjIOfLIhgrYB2E6lu@gAAAFQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YsydjIOfLIhgrYB2E6lu@gAAAFQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YsydjIOfLIhgrYB2E6lu@gAAAFQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/06/broadcom_takeover_vmware/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/30/broadcom_strategy_vmware_customer_impact/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/23/broadcom_vmware_acquisition_post/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/09/vmware_foss_hypervisor/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/06/broadcom_takeover_vmware/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/30/broadcom_strategy_vmware_customer_impact/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YsydjIOfLIhgrYB2E6lu@gAAAFQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/06/broadcom_takeover_vmware/
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YsydjIOfLIhgrYB2E6lu@gAAAFQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/31/citrix_acquired_by_private_equity/
[16] https://investors.citrix.com/news-and-events/press-releases/2022/07-11-2022-210535629
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
According to an [1]SEC filing released today, Krause, the president of Broadcom’s software group, will leave the chip giant on Friday to pursue a role at an unnamed enterprise software company. Upon his departure, Tan will assume Krause’s responsibilities, and the position of President of the Broadcom Software Group will be eliminated.
Krause is widely seen as the architect of Broadcom’s proposed VMware acquisition, which he [2]portrayed as the centerpiece of Broadcom’s software strategy in a blog post last month.
[3]
Prior to running Broadcom’s Software Group, a position Krause held for less than two years, he briefly served as VP of corporate development before taking over as CFO from 2016 to 2020.
[4]
[5]
In the SEC filing, Broadcom emphasized that Krause’s departure was “not the result of any disagreement with the company or management on any matter relating to the company’s performance, operations, policies, practices, or financial statements, including its controls or other financial related matters.”
The dissolution of Krause’s position at Broadcom isn’t all that surprising either given the semiconductor giant's previously established plans to merge its software group [6]under the VMware name and incorporate its existing infrastructure and security software holdings — including CA and Symantec — into a single expanded portfolio.
[7]Broadcom's stated strategy ignores most VMware customers
[8]Broadcom sketches out VMware ambitions that stretch from mainframe to cloud
[9]Broadcom's VMware buy got you worried? Give these 5 FOSS hypervisors a spin
[10]Broadcom takeover deal for VMware faces no rival bids
These plans have left VMware employees and customers uneasy about VMware’s future, especially given Broadcom’s track record for focusing on a small subset of large enterprise customers, a strategy for which Krause is directly responsible.
At a Broadcom event in November, Krause offered a glimpse at the [11]corporation's software strategy , which involved pursuing the company’s 600 largest, most regulated, and risk-averse customers, because they’re the least likely to change suppliers.
[12]
Krause’s departure calls into question whether Tan will keep with that strategy or chart a new course with VMware at the helm.
The announcement marks the latest wrinkle in Broadcom’s enduring push into the software sphere. The news comes just a week after Broadcom cleared another hurdle in its bid to subsume the virtualization giant after rival bidders [13]failed to materialize within allotted 40-day “go-shop” period.
Broadcom is now clear to proceed with the transaction, and pending regulatory and shareholder approval – Europe, for one, is sticking a probe into the deal – is expected to close by the end of the chipmaker’s 2023 fiscal year, which ends in November.
[14]
The Register reached out to Broadcom for comment; we’ll let you know if we hear anything back.
Apropos of almost nothing, at the start of July it was announced Chip Childers is joining VMware as Chief Open Source Officer. ®
Updated to add
Krause is joining a [15]combined Citrix and Tibco as chief executive officer, it was [16]announced on Monday.
The Citrix-Tibco merger is expected to complete in the third quarter of 2022, if regulators don't hold it up, which will take Citrix private.
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://investors.broadcom.com/node/60411/html
[2] https://www.broadcom.com/blog/broadcom-vmware
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YsydjIOfLIhgrYB2E6lu@gAAAFQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YsydjIOfLIhgrYB2E6lu@gAAAFQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YsydjIOfLIhgrYB2E6lu@gAAAFQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/06/broadcom_takeover_vmware/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/30/broadcom_strategy_vmware_customer_impact/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/23/broadcom_vmware_acquisition_post/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/09/vmware_foss_hypervisor/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/06/broadcom_takeover_vmware/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/30/broadcom_strategy_vmware_customer_impact/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YsydjIOfLIhgrYB2E6lu@gAAAFQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/06/broadcom_takeover_vmware/
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YsydjIOfLIhgrYB2E6lu@gAAAFQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/31/citrix_acquired_by_private_equity/
[16] https://investors.citrix.com/news-and-events/press-releases/2022/07-11-2022-210535629
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: I'm so screwed
Yet Another Anonymous coward
But if it didn't look like a Win95 VB app with some broken functionality, you wouldn't know it was enterprise software
Total speculation....
Anonymous Coward
There could be hope. Krause was the architect of the 'Forget everyone except the whales' go-to-market strategy. It is completely possible his departure is signaling the end of that paradigm. Putting all the heads under Hock could be a place holder pending filling the slots with VMware leadership - management which has actually worked in the software industry. We'll see....
I'm so screwed
We are a (admittedly small fry) vmware shop. I have been watching this thread of stories with increasing horror, and I think I need to hit the exit doors this summer.
Broadcom as a company brings more baggage to the table than hope. That was true before these announcements, when they were repeating the like most often uttered after a M&A transition. Clearly they don't intend to leave VMware well enough alone. Reading the tea leaves doesn't look good. The M&A was his baby, and it appears that he dosen't like the direction it's going. When the head of a division quits, his pet projects suffer. But the icing on the cake is hearing they wan't to deeply integrate CA and Symantec with VMware.
Surgically implanting 2 bags of dogshit in a patient will result in zero healthy patients, not a thriving one. And VMware hasn't been thriving in a while. They squandered almost a decade while Microsoft has closed the technical gap in their hypervisor and services. In that wasted decade they couldn't manage to build a functioning modern GUI and users were stuck with a product split between the 90's flash era and an incomplete and often bizarre new GUI based on HTML5 that should have been completed by the next half step release.
In addition, the companies driver support(always one of it's biggest weaknesses) got worse under Dell, at least for non-dell hardware. Broken updates have gone from frequent to constant, with the current 7 series on default settings corrupting it's own upgrade process after 90 days because of the toxic combination of forced account expiration, broken account management tools, and a lack of sanity checking in their upgrade scripts, which in addition to not performing the basic step of validating that the root account they insist on launching under isn't disabled, also aren't atomic and can't be rolled back once they have started. This problem has been present for months, and the companies response has been to tell people to A) install everything from offline .ISO files from the command line, and B) delete all of vcenter and start over from scratch because their install scripts leave the install so broken it's faster burn the corpse of your existing vcenter than to fix the dumpster fire via the command line.
Also, they could fix the "expired root account" problem with a one line bash script, a permissions check and "touch". This stuffs not rocket science.