Third-Party Support vs VMware Support – Finding Real Cost Relief
Faced with rising VMware support costs, many CIOs and IT procurement leaders are looking for relief. VMware’s acquisition by Broadcom has brought significant price hikes and stricter terms on official support.
In response, VMware support alternatives are emerging in the form of independent third-party maintenance providers. These third-party support services promise support cost savings while keeping systems running smoothly.
Is switching to third-party support for VMware the right move? The answer depends on your environment’s stability, compliance considerations, and risk tolerance.
The following sections break down when it makes sense to switch, how much you might save, what risks to watch out for, and the steps to take before changing course.
Each recommendation comes with a practical next step to help you evaluate your options with eyes wide open.
Read our ultimate guide to VMware License Optimization: Cut Shelfware & Reduce Support Costs.
Why VMware Support Costs Are Rising
Broadcom’s takeover of VMware has led to higher maintenance fees and more rigid support tiers. Annual support costs that historically hovered around 18–22% of the software license price have crept upward.
Now it’s not uncommon to see maintenance quotes in the 25–30% range of the license value under Broadcom’s new pricing. In short, many organizations are paying significantly more for the same level of support.
Broadcom has also scaled back discounts and loyalty programs, meaning even long-time VMware customers face “take it or leave it” pricing.
Insight: “Under Broadcom, VMware support can now exceed 22% of license cost annually.”
Recommendation: Review your current VMware support spend per product before the next renewal. Understand exactly what you’re paying and how much it has increased compared to previous years or industry benchmarks. This will clarify how big the cost problem is for your IT budget.
Next Step: Ask your VMware account manager for a detailed breakdown of support costs for each product. Use this data to benchmark and identify which maintenance fees are spiking the most.
How to identify shelfware, Identifying “Shelfware” Licenses in VMware Environments.
The Case for Third-Party Support
Third-party support providers (such as Rimini Street, Spinnaker Support, and Origina) offer an independent alternative to VMware’s official support. Instead of paying premium prices to Broadcom, companies can contract these providers to support existing VMware installations.
Third-party maintenance for VMware typically covers technical support, troubleshooting, and guidance on your current software versions — just without vendor-supplied upgrades or new feature releases.
For many organizations with stable environments, the cost advantages are compelling. Independent support vendors often charge 50% or less of VMware’s fees for similar support coverage.
They focus on keeping your legacy VMware systems running reliably, maintaining SLAs and response times comparable to (or sometimes better than) the vendor.
Essentially, you’re paying half the cost in exchange for forgoing frequent upgrades that you might not need in a steady-state environment.
Insight: “Third-party support can cut costs by 50% while maintaining SLAs for stable environments.”
Recommendation: Consider third-party support for legacy, non-critical, or highly stable systems where frequent upgrades aren’t needed. It’s an attractive option if you have VMware products that are mature and not expected to change much, such as older vSphere versions or VMware tools running in departments where innovation has leveled off.
Next Step: Identify all systems running on older VMware releases or those nearing end-of-life in your portfolio. Tag these for potential third-party support and calculate the potential savings for each if you were to switch maintenance providers.
Key Risks and Compliance Boundaries
Switching away from official VMware support is not without risks. The foremost concern is loss of access to vendor patches and updates. When a new security vulnerability or bug emerges, third-party support cannot provide official VMware patches.
Some independent providers might develop workarounds or help you mitigate issues, but you won’t receive the same stream of updates.
This means you must weigh the security implications, especially for internet-facing or critical systems, of not having immediate vendor fixes.
Another major consideration is licensing compliance. Broadcom has adopted a hardline stance: if you’re using VMware software without an active support contract (especially under a subscription license model), it could violate your agreement. In fact, there have been instances of Broadcom sending cease-and-desist letters to customers running VMware on lapsed support contracts.
The fine print in VMware’s terms may prohibit production use of the software if support is terminated or may forbid receiving any form of support from third parties using VMware intellectual property.
This is a legal gray area, but it underscores the importance of understanding your contract. You don’t want a cost-saving move to trigger a licensing breach.
Insight: “You can’t use unsupported VMware in production if your contract prohibits it — review terms carefully.”
Recommendation: Make a legal and compliance review mandatory before ending official VMware support. Your legal or licensing team should scrutinize the VMware/Broadcom contract for any clauses about support termination, third-party support, or rights to updates.
Also, assess internal policies or industry regulations that require vendor-supported software in production environments.
Next Step: Engage your legal department or a licensing specialist to confirm whether switching to third-party support would violate any Broadcom VMware license terms. Have them put in writing what usage rights you retain if you let your VMware support lapse.
Read about tools for how to manage license, Tools & Automation for VMware License Management.
Ideal Use Cases for Switching Support
Third-party VMware support isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution; it shines in specific scenarios. The ideal use case is a stable workload where innovation has plateaued.
For example, consider a legacy application running on an older vSphere cluster that hasn’t needed an update in years. If that environment is working fine and new VMware features won’t add value, third-party support can keep it running smoothly at lower cost.
Similarly, disaster recovery (DR) sites, backup environments, or test/dev systems might be good candidates – they’re important to maintain, but they don’t require the latest upgrades or top-tier vendor attention.
Another great fit is any system nearing retirement or migration. Perhaps you plan to decommission a certain data center or move an on-prem environment to the cloud in the next year or two.
Paying full price for VMware support during this short remaining life might not make sense. Independent support can act as a bridge solution, covering you during the transition period without locking you into expensive long-term contracts.
In contrast, avoid third-party support for any environment where you must stay on the cutting edge of VMware technology. If your business relies on new VMware releases for performance, security, or compatibility reasons, then sticking with official support (and thus access to upgrades) is likely worth the cost.
For mission-critical platforms that drive revenue or require full vendor backing, the risk of not having immediate patch support might outweigh the savings.
Insight: “Third-party support fits stable workloads where innovation has plateaued — not where VMware upgrades are mission-critical.”
Recommendation: Start with a small, low-risk workload as a pilot before considering a broader shift. This lets you evaluate the quality and responsiveness of a third-party provider without jeopardizing core operations. It will also give you a realistic sense of how much you save and what trade-offs exist in practice.
Next Step: Identify one non-production or lower-priority VMware cluster and put it under third-party maintenance as a 6-month trial. Monitor the provider’s support quality during the pilot (response times, issue resolutions, etc.). Use the results to inform a wider decision on third-party support.
How to Evaluate Third-Party Providers
Choosing an independent support vendor should be treated as a serious procurement exercise, not just a casual cost-cutting purchase.
These providers will be responsible for keeping your VMware infrastructure healthy, so vet them thoroughly:
- Service Scope & Expertise: Ensure the provider genuinely supports the specific VMware products and versions you run. Not all third-party vendors cover the full VMware portfolio. Some may support vSphere hypervisors but not more niche products like NSX, vSAN, or Horizon. Confirm they have engineers experienced in your exact software versions. Ask how many customers they support on VMware and if they have staff who are ex-VMware or certified professionals – this can indicate depth of expertise.
- Service Level Agreements (SLAs): Review their support SLAs in detail. What are the guaranteed response and resolution times for critical issues? Do they offer 24/7 coverage for emergencies? For global enterprises, check if they have follow-the-sun support capabilities. The goal is to ensure their promised service levels match or exceed what you currently get from VMware (or what your business needs). If a provider only offers 9-to-5 support or slower response unless you pay extra, factor that into your decision.
- Escalation and Problem Resolution: Ask about the escalation path for tough technical problems. Since third-party firms don’t have the vendor’s source code, find out how they handle complex bugs or unknown errors. Do they provide workaround guidance, or will they create custom patches? Some might collaborate with open-source communities or use creative solutions for fixes. It’s important you feel confident that they can resolve issues and not just log tickets.
- Security and Compliance: Evaluate how the provider handles sensitive data and security issues. If they will access your systems or you’ll share log files and configurations, ensure they have robust data protection policies. Inquire if they have experience meeting compliance standards relevant to you (e.g. GDPR, HIPAA, or other data handling rules) and if they carry appropriate liability insurance. Security incidents don’t stop just because you switched support vendors, so the third-party must be capable of guiding you through vulnerabilities and breaches responsibly.
- Reputation and References: Research each vendor’s track record. Since third-party support for VMware is a relatively new market, you’ll want to see proof of performance. Request customer references, specifically from organizations similar to yours or with similar VMware environments. Speaking to a current client can validate claims about response quality and savings. Additionally, read any case studies or independent reviews. Keep in mind some providers have stronger reputations in supporting other software (for example, Origina for IBM products or Spinnaker in the Oracle realm) but are newer to VMware. A company like Rimini Street, which is a well-known third-party support firm, has publicly added VMware to its portfolio — find out how mature their VMware practice is and whether they handle support directly or through partners.
Insight: “Not all third-party providers handle VMware directly; ensure they support your exact versions.”
Recommendation: Treat selecting a VMware third-party support provider as you would any critical vendor partnership. It’s not just about who is cheapest — it’s about who can reliably shoulder the responsibility of your infrastructure. Take a balanced scorecard approach: weigh cost savings against service quality, expertise, and trustworthiness.
Next Step: Create a vendor evaluation checklist. Include criteria like SLA guarantees, scope of support (which VMware products/versions), customer references, and security certifications.
Reach out to your top two or three candidate providers to request detailed service proposals and real-world examples of their support in action. Before signing anything, verify their 24/7 response claims and possibly negotiate a trial period or exit clause in case the service doesn’t meet expectations.
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