According to CRN, Broadcom launched its new VMware Cloud Service Provider program on November 1, immediately following the termination of the previous program on October 31. The revamped VCSP is now invite-only, leaving at least hundreds—possibly thousands—of former partners without invitations to continue. VMware’s Ahmar Mohammad, who designed the new program, stated they want “larger and bigger partners who can put up a fight” and are pushing for aggressive growth through acquisitions. Another major shift prevents partners from operating as both cloud service providers and resellers simultaneously, while Broadcom also eliminated its white-label channel model. The company is specifically targeting partners who will fully commit to driving VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 with strong technical pre-and-post sales capabilities.
Sponsored content — provided for informational and promotional purposes.
The Great Partner Purge
This isn’t just a program refresh—it’s a complete ecosystem overhaul. Broadcom is basically telling thousands of existing partners “thanks, but no thanks” with this invite-only approach. Think about that scale: hundreds to thousands of businesses that built their VMware practices suddenly finding themselves locked out. Here’s the thing: when a vendor says they want partners who can “put up a fight,” they’re really saying they want consolidation. Smaller players need not apply. This move fundamentally reshapes who gets to play in the VMware sandbox, and it’s clearly favoring the big guns.
The All-In Mandate
Brian Moats, Broadcom’s global channel chief, couldn’t be clearer about what they want: partners who are “willing to lean in.” But what does that actually mean? It means your entire business needs to revolve around VMware Cloud Foundation. No more dabbling. No more being a reseller who also does some cloud stuff. They want technical depth—partners who can handle the entire VCF journey from design through implementation to ongoing management. The message is simple: go all-in on our flagship platform or get out. But is this realistic for many partners who’ve built diversified practices?
The Consolidation Play
Ahmar Mohammad’s comments about wanting CSPs to grow by “acquiring the business of departing partners or buying them outright” reveals the real strategy here. Broadcom isn’t just pruning the partner tree—they’re actively encouraging a feeding frenzy. They want fewer, larger partners who can scale quickly, even if that means those partners grow through absorbing others rather than organic growth. This creates winners and losers in very dramatic fashion. The partners who get invites essentially get handed territory previously covered by dozens of smaller players. It’s a brutal but effective way to rapidly consolidate market coverage.
Broader Ecosystem Impact
So what happens to all those excluded partners? They’ve got some tough choices. They can try to become sub-partners to the new VCSP elite, pivot to competing platforms like Nutanix or Microsoft Azure Stack, or exit the business entirely. Meanwhile, customers who relied on smaller, more specialized VMware partners might find themselves dealing with much larger, potentially less flexible providers. The elimination of the white-label model means even fewer options for differentiation. Basically, Broadcom is betting that a streamlined, consolidated partner ecosystem will drive more VCF adoption than the previous fragmented approach. It’s a high-risk, high-reward strategy that could either supercharge their cloud business or create openings for competitors.
