Broadcom has admitted that VMware sales teams placed "too big a focus" on pushing customers, including small and medium-sized businesses, towards its expensive VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) bundle rather than cheaper standalone options. Since Broadcom's takeover of VMware ended perpetual licences in favour of costly subscription bundles, many SMBs have found VCF unaffordable and bloated with unnecessary features, with some sales representatives reportedly telling customers that the lower-cost vSphere Standard edition was no longer available. The admission matters because it confirms long-standing customer complaints and comes as VMware faces a serious credibility problem with smaller businesses that have felt squeezed out.

VCF's chief product officer, Paul Turner, told The Register that sales incentives had encouraged staff to push VCF and that this has now been "corrected," with an updated vSphere Standard promised "soon" and further details expected at VMware Explore in Frankfurt in October. vSphere Standard has not been updated since 2022, which executives attributed to a focus on VCF's security and on promoting private cloud as a cheaper alternative to public cloud. However, industry figures including a former 19-year VMware reseller and the co-author of a book on VMware's Broadcom era argue the damage may already be done, with SMBs migrating to rivals such as Nutanix, Proxmox and Microsoft Hyper-V, and warn that Broadcom must prove sustained pricing stability and trustworthy renewals rather than simply refreshing a product. Broadcom's software division, meanwhile, remains highly profitable, posting $8.75 billion in revenue for fiscal Q3 2026, a 29% year-on-year rise, raising questions over how much priority SMBs will genuinely receive.