Broadcom Product Bundling Changes
Inside Broadcom’s New Bundling Model
Broadcom’s acquisition spree (VMware, Symantec, CA) has ushered in a new era of Broadcom product bundling.
Instead of picking and choosing individual products, Broadcom now pushes giant software suites as the “standard” offer.
This suite licensing approach means buyers often end up paying for far more software than they actually need or use. Read our ultimate guide to Broadcom ELA & Subscription Models: What Changed After the Acquisition.
Under Broadcom’s bundling model, single-product deals are fading away. In their place, multi-product bundles are marketed as complete solutions.
Pricing is presented for the whole package, hiding the cost of each component. Buyers lose visibility of any line items and can’t see what each module truly costs.
True-down flexibility – the right to scale back licenses at renewal – evaporates because everything is tied up in one broad agreement.
What Changed With Bundling
Broadcom’s bundle-first strategy is a major shift from past licensing.
Previously, enterprises could buy VMware, Symantec, or CA tools à la carte – one module at a time if that’s all they needed.
Now, Broadcom frames large bundles as the default. It’s essentially a forced bundles scenario: you get the whole suite or you get nothing useful.
These bundles are touted as a “better value,” but they quietly inflate scope and cost. Broadcom groups multiple products, making it harder to say no to any one component.
The bundle price might look like a deal until you realize you’re paying for extra modules that add no value. You can’t easily remove or scale down any single component without renegotiating the entire contract (no true-down flexibility).
Buyers also lose line-item visibility. The quote doesn’t show individual product prices, so you can’t tell which part of the suite is eating your budget.
This opacity benefits Broadcom – it prevents you from spotting which components are overpriced. And if you don’t know what each piece costs, you can’t measure its ROI.
Broadcom’s suite licensing is basically an all-or-nothing play, leaving you with far less control over outcomes and costs.
Pro Tip: “If you can’t buy modules individually, you can’t control price per outcome.”
VMware Bundles — VCF and vSphere Foundation
VMware customers have seen perhaps the most dramatic bundling change.
Broadcom now offers VMware in pre-packaged VMware bundles instead of individual products.
The two flagship bundles are VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) and VMware vSphere Foundation:
- VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF): This is the full VMware suite: vSphere, vSAN, NSX, and Aria management in one bundle. It’s licensed per CPU core (16-core minimum per processor). VCF is aimed at enterprises that need the entire VMware stack.
- VMware vSphere Foundation: This lighter bundle includes vSphere plus some vSAN storage and Aria management, but no NSX. It uses the same per-core licensing (16-core per CPU minimum). Suited for organizations that need advanced virtualization without the full networking stack.
Broadcom has eliminated most standalone VMware product options. You can no longer buy many tools à la carte – for example, vRealize/Aria Operations or NSX by itself. Nearly everything is now part of a bundle.
VMware initially kept a vSphere Standard edition (and briefly an Essentials Kit) for very small deployments, but even those are being phased out or heavily restricted.
Broadcom did reintroduce vSphere Enterprise Plus as a standalone hypervisor-only subscription (with no vSAN or NSX included) to appease some bundle-wary customers.
But generally, any feature beyond the basic hypervisor now requires you to pick either vSphere Foundation or Cloud Foundation.
One consequence of bundling is that even a minor add-on feature can balloon in cost when it’s applied per core across your entire environment.
For example, NSX used to be an optional add-on you could buy for only part of your environment. Now it comes included in Cloud Foundation across every core – even if you only use it on a few hosts.
That “minor” feature, multiplied by hundreds of cores, becomes a major expense.
Pro Tip: “Small add-ons on big cores become big bills.”
Know what you are signing up for, Understanding Broadcom ELA Terms & Conditions.
“Can I Buy vSphere Without the Bundle?”
Short answer: rarely – and it won’t be cheap.
Broadcom’s VMware sales playbook strongly favors bundles. Trying to buy vSphere by itself often meets resistance or an inflated price. Broadcom VMware bundles are presented as the default to maximize Broadcom’s revenue per customer.
In some cases, a basic standalone vSphere edition still exists (e.g. vSphere Standard, or the reintroduced Enterprise Plus for hypervisor-only). But these standalone options are limited and often priced so high that they don’t make financial sense.
Broadcom might quote a standalone vSphere license at a rate only slightly below the vSphere Foundation bundle, making the “choice” an illusion. The message is clear: they want you to take the bundle.
If you push for an individual VMware component, Broadcom will likely steer the conversation back to suites. They’ll claim the bundle provides more “value” or that standalone licensing isn’t available for certain features.
Even if a standalone option exists, it usually comes with unattractive terms (like zero discounts or short support durations) to nudge you toward the bundled deal.
Pro Tip: “If standalone pricing is punitive, you’re already in a bundle negotiation.”
Symantec (Security) Bundles
Broadcom applies the same bundling philosophy to Symantec’s enterprise security software. Instead of selling one security solution at a time, Broadcom pushes broad Symantec bundles that cover endpoint, email, web, data loss prevention, and more under one umbrella license.
It’s essentially an all-in-one cybersecurity suite – whether or not you actually need every part of it.
For example, a company that only needs endpoint protection may still get offered a comprehensive “Symantec security suite” that includes email and DLP modules too. The price covers the entire package, not individual pieces.
This often leads to paying for shelfware – components you’re entitled to but will never use. The bundle gets bloated beyond your real requirements, driving up cost with no proportional benefit.
The risk is especially high for smaller and mid-sized organizations. Broadcom’s post-acquisition sales focus is on its largest customers, often leaving smaller clients with take-it-or-leave-it bundle offers.
If you’re not a Fortune 500 company, you likely won’t get a quote for just one Symantec product – it’ll be the full suite or nothing. That can be a deal-breaker if you only need one or two tools.
Mini-Scenario: A regional bank bought the full Symantec security suite just to get a single needed feature. After one year, they had only deployed about 55% of the suite’s capabilities, but they paid for 100%.
CA / Mainframe & Enterprise Software Bundles
Broadcom’s bundling isn’t limited to VMware and security – it extends into CA’s mainframe and enterprise software as well. Long-time CA customers now face CA bundles that roll multiple tools into “platform” suites.
Broadcom often pushes a single, multi-year license covering a range of CA mainframe and enterprise tools, instead of renewing individual products one by one.
These platform bundles can cover everything from database management to automation software in one contract. Broadcom typically pushes multi-year, co-termed deals – for example, one big 3-year agreement for all your CA software.
In reality, you often end up stuck with a broad suite that includes tools you’ll never use. Yet you still pay maintenance on the entire set, not just the few critical tools you actually need.
One hidden downside of these bundles is expanded audit scope: Broadcom’s audit rights often cover the entire suite of products.
They can decide to audit tools you’ve never even deployed, just to ensure you aren’t using anything beyond your entitlements.
In essence, signing a wide-ranging bundle invites the vendor to poke around your environment. If an old CA tool is installed somewhere without you realizing, it’s fair game for a compliance check.
Pro Tip: “Platform bundles can expand audit reach across tools you never touched.”
Financial Impact of Bundling
Bundling can wreak havoc on your IT budget. The total cost of ownership (TCO) often jumps significantly under Broadcom’s suite model. Why? Because you’re paying for more software than you actually need or use:
- Coverage for Unused Components: You buy many modules together in a bundle. If you only use half of them, you’re still paying for 100%.
- Core-Based Minimums: In VMware’s case, licensing is per CPU core with a high minimum (e.g. 16 cores counted even on an 8-core CPU). You pay for that minimum capacity even if your actual usage is lower.
- Loss of Modular Discounts: You’ve lost leverage from negotiating items separately. With one big bundle price, you can’t drop specific costly components or negotiate them individually.
- Suite Uplift Risk: Broadcom can impose bigger annual price hikes on the entire suite (claiming added value). And you can’t refuse an expensive upgrade for one component when it’s intertwined with all the others.
Mini-Scenario: An industrial manufacturer moved to VMware Cloud Foundation for the same workloads. The result? Their renewal cost jumped about 60% with zero net-new value delivered.
Hidden Traps in Bundle Proposals
When Broadcom presents a bundle proposal, read the fine print closely.
There are often “bonus” items and terms tucked in that seem like value-adds but can bite you later.
Watch out for these common traps in bundle deals:
- Free Training or Services: Initial bundle quotes might include “free” training or consulting hours. But at renewal, those freebies often disappear or become billable – after you’ve come to rely on them.
- Premium Support Upgrades: The bundle might include a premium support tier by default. Later, keeping that level of support will cost extra – and sometimes the bundle “requires” premium support, locking you into a higher spend.
- Mandatory Services: Some bundles require you to buy Broadcom’s services for deployment or migration. That adds an obligatory extra cost to use the software you already paid for.
- Auto-Expansion Clauses: Beware of terms that automatically add licenses if your usage or hardware footprint grows. What seems like flexibility is actually a blank check – you’ll get billed at full price as soon as you exceed a threshold.
Bundle proposals often front-load perks that later turn into obligations. Today’s “free” value-add can become tomorrow’s anchored cost. Always isolate those extras and negotiate them separately.
Pro Tip: “Free today often means anchored tomorrow.”
Checklist — Validate Any Bundle Offer
Before signing on a bundled deal, go through this checklist to protect your interests:
- Itemize all components and metrics: Break the bundle into its pieces. Know exactly what products and features are included, and how each is measured (per core, per user, etc.).
- Confirm module on/off rights: Clarify if you can drop or not deploy certain modules without penalty. Ensure you’re not forced to count every component if it’s not in use.
- Document DR and test terms: Write down how disaster recovery or test environments are handled. Bundles can blur usage rights – be sure your non-production use is clearly permitted without extra fees.
- Lock core counts and minimums: If the bundle is tied to cores or users, fix the numbers. Remove any open-ended language about “true-up” if you add hardware. Negotiate down any unrealistically high minimum counts.
- Get separate pricing for each module: Even if it’s a single bundle price, insist the vendor provides a cost breakdown per component. This transparency is helpful later if you want to contribute and shows where the money is going.
Negotiating Bundles Back to Value
If Broadcom hands you a mega-bundle, you don’t have to accept it at face value.
Push back with tactics that force the bundle closer to your actual needs:
- Scope bundles narrowly: Limit the bundle’s coverage to exactly what you need (e.g. one business unit or site, not the entire enterprise). A smaller scope means less shelfware.
- Pilot on small scale: Test new components on a limited set of servers or users first. Don’t license every system on day one – limit your exposure until you see real value.
- Insist on line-item transparency: Ask for the price of each component in the bundle. Even if they claim they can’t sell them separately, seeing the numbers lets you spot expensive items and push back on them.
- Carve out unused modules: Remove any component you know you won’t use. If Broadcom refuses, negotiate a $0 cost or an option to drop it later. Don’t pay for unused software.
By pushing on these points, you trim the fat from a forced bundle. The goal is to reframe the deal from “all or nothing” to “only what brings value.”
Pro Tip: “If they refuse line-item pricing, cap the whole bundle’s uplift instead.”
Checklist — Contract Protections for Bundles
When you do agree to a bundle, build in contractual safeguards so it doesn’t become a runaway expense:
- Cap price increases: Limit annual price hikes (e.g. max 5% or CPI). No more surprise spikes at renewal.
- True-down rights: Include terms to reduce license counts at renewal if your usage drops. Don’t get stuck overpaying for diminished needs.
- Module termination options: Negotiate the option to drop individual modules at renewal if they remain unused. Each component should have to earn its keep.
- Audit scope limits: Limit audits to the products you actually use. Don’t allow broad fishing expeditions across every product in the bundle.
- Bridge options without penalties: Allow short-term contract extensions (“bridges”) without penalties or list price resets. This lets you take extra time to plan, without a huge price hike.
Mini-Scenario: One global retailer took a one-year bridge contract and used that time to measure actual usage. They then dropped two unused modules and slashed their renewal cost by 22%.
Read our extended FAQ, FAQ: Broadcom ELA Transition for Existing Customers.
Measuring Bundle ROI in Year One
Don’t wait until renewal to find out if a bundle was worth it. From day one, set targets and checkpoints to keep the vendor honest and your spend effective:
- Set adoption targets: Define what success looks like for each module (e.g. 90% deployment or 80% utilization). Use these targets to measure each component’s value.
- Tie cost to usage: Link future spending or expansions to hitting those targets. Don’t pay for additional capacity or users until you’ve actually reached the current limits.
- Include swap/drop clauses: Have the right to drop or replace any module that fails to meet its adoption target (say, after the first year). You shouldn’t pay indefinitely for a component that isn’t delivering value.
If Broadcom refuses these terms, that’s a red flag – it suggests they expect some bundle components to go unused (while still charging you). Insist on utilization-based conditions so the vendor is accountable to deliver value on every part of the suite.
Pro Tip: “No utilization targets, no bundle.”
Five Actionable Buyer Moves
- Demand line-item visibility: Insist on seeing pricing per module even within a suite. Transparency is your friend – you can’t negotiate or measure value blind.
- Fence scope: Limit bundle deals to specific environments (certain clusters, departments, or geographies). Avoid enterprise-wide bundles unless necessary.
- Set utilization gates: Agree on checkpoints (e.g. 12 months in) to review usage. If a component isn’t pulling its weight, you get rights to drop or replace it.
- Cap the uplifts: Put a firm cap on any yearly price increases for the bundle. No more than inflation or a single-digit percentage – bundle-wide.
- Pilot small: Whenever possible, start with a smaller deployment or shorter term. Test the bundle on a limited scale to verify value before committing big.
Read about our Broadcom Audit Defense Service
