Same VMware Platform. Different Infrastructure. Your Business, Intact.

The VMware landscape has changed, but your customers' environments do not have to. 

There is a lot of noise right now about what Broadcom's changes to the VMware partner programme mean for resellers and IT service providers. Some of that noise is useful. A lot of it oversimplifies what is actually a nuanced situation. 

So let us be straightforward about what we are seeing, what the real options are, and what a path forward looks like for the partners who want to keep their VMware business running. 

You run the platform. We provide the infrastructure behind it. 

The model we offer is not an MSP arrangement where we take over your customers and manage everything end-to-end. That is not what most partners need and frankly, it is not what most of their customers want either. 

What we offer is something more precise: you continue to operate your familiar VMware environment; with the same interface and workflows your team already knows. We provide the infrastructure underneath,  compute, storage, networking,  housed in our datacentres, with Pinnacle Partner-level licensing and compliance handled by us. 

Same VMware platform. Just without the hardware operations. No replatforming, no retraining, no disruption to customer SLAs. 

For many partners, this is the difference between disruption and continuity. 

What has actually changed, and why it matters 

After Broadcom's acquisition of VMware in late 2023, the partner programme was significantly restructured. Many partners who previously transacted directly were removed from the programme. They can no longer sell, licence or support VMware solutions independently. 

This is where team.blue,  through Curanet, Proserve and Combell,  comes in. We have been retained as a VMware Pinnacle Partner, one of approximately 100 worldwide. That gives us the standing to act as the authorised route for displaced partners to continue operating normally, without their customers feeling any change. 

If you have been impacted by these changes, the clock is running. Agreements expire by April 2027 but transitions of this scale typically require 12-18 months of planning and execution. Delaying decisions reduces flexibility and increases operational risk. 

Partner, not competitor 

One concern we hear regularly is whether working with us means giving up your customer relationships. It does not. 

We have operated on a clear principle for more than 20 years: if we are invited to bid on the same customer as one of our partners, we step aside,  no exceptions. You remain the customer-facing party. We remain the infrastructure behind you. 

This is not just a commercial arrangement. It is the foundation that makes the model work. 

Fifteen years of VMware expertise should not start over 

Your team has built real knowledge on this platform. Your workflows are embedded in it. Your customers trust you precisely because you know it inside out. 

Switching hypervisors does not just mean a migration project,  it means rebuilding institutional knowledge, retraining teams, and asking customers to accept risk they did not sign up for. For many environments, that cost far outweighs the licence savings. 

We have analysed the alternatives at group level across team.blue, across technical, commercial and operational dimensions. The conclusion was consistent: no alternative platform currently matches VMware on the combination of maturity, ecosystem depth, operational stability and total cost when migration is factored in. 

That analysis was not done out of loyalty to Broadcom. It was done because our partners and customers deserve an honest assessment. 

Built around where you are today 

You keep the customer relationship and operate the VMware platform. We take care of the infrastructure and licensing behind it. How that looks in practice depends on where your hardware sits today. 

Continue as today The simplest path forward. Your hardware stays exactly where it is; we take over the VMware licensing and the hardware itself and deliver it back to you as a managed service. Storage, backup and networking remain under your control; we handle VCF and licensing at Pinnacle Partner level. For your customers, nothing changes. 

Edge Cloud For partners with recent hardware investments, or a reason to keep workloads on-premises — whether regulatory, commercial or customer-driven. We ship and operate the hardware; you manage the workloads on top. You provide rack space, power and connectivity. Everything else comes from us. 

Private Cloud The cleanest transition: migrate your customers' workloads into a dedicated Private Cloud in our certified datacentres (ISAE 3402, ISAE 3000, ISO 27001). The VMware environment your team operates stays unchanged — same interface, same workflows. We handle the migration; you set the direction and the timeline. Billing is consumption-based with no upfront investment. 

Planning for after April 2027 

Some partners ask whether they will still be able to deliver VMware to their customers after 2027. The answer is yes — on the same VMware environment as today, operated by you, on our infrastructure. 

The transition can be structured flexibly. Existing hardware investments can be accommodated in the migration timeline. Edge Cloud options allow the solution to run in your own datacentre while hardware is depreciated. And we are open to transition timelines of twelve months or more. 

The goal is straightforward: continuity without any disruption, for you and for your customers. 

What this looks like in practice 

A typical setup looks something like this: your customers' workloads run in a dedicated or shared VMware environment hosted in our datacentres. You administer the environment as you always have. We manage the underlying infrastructure, the licensing, the compliance, and the lifecycle of VMware components. 

Your customers see no change. Your workflows stay the same. Your customer relationships remain yours. 

This is what we mean when we say we are an infrastructure operator for partner-operated VMware clouds, not an MSP that steps in front of your customers. 

If your VMware agreement has been affected by Broadcom's programme changes, or if you are planning ahead for April 2027, we would be glad to talk through your options. Reach out to explore what a transition could look like for your business.