What’s Going On?

If you’re a VxRail customer coming up on your VMware support renewal, you’ve probably already felt the pain. Ever since Broadcom acquired VMware, support renewals have gotten murky — and frustrating.

What to Watch Out For

1. Mixed Messages from Broadcom

At first, Broadcom told customers they’d still have access to patches and updates for perpetual licenses, even without renewing support — basically a self-service option.

But that changed. They later clarified (or backtracked, depending on how you look at it) and said pulling patches without an active support agreement is a breach of intellectual property laws. So what started out sounding like “you can still update yourself” turned into “not without breaking the rules.”

2. Getting Renewal Quotes is a Mess

Many customers who used to have VMware contracts through Dell are stuck in limbo. Common themes we’re hearing:

• Still waiting on quotes months after expiration
  
• Being steered toward Premier Support, which is overkill for many — especially if you’re only doing occasional upgrades or need help with VxRail/VCenter updates
  
• Finding it nearly impossible to get someone at Dell or Broadcom to give a straight answer
  

Real Customer Example

“We were under a VMware contract through Dell until last December. Since the Broadcom deal, we haven’t been able to get a standard support quote. Dell keeps pushing Premier Support, but all we really need is help once or twice a year for upgrades or troubleshooting the VxRail cluster.”

Sound familiar?

VxRail E560F

VxRail support renewals for the popular VxRail E560F model has become notably more complex following Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware. While existing support contracts will be honored until expiration, future renewals require careful coordination with both Dell and Broadcom to ensure uninterrupted support for the E560F model.

What Customers Are Doing Instead

With all this confusion, many IT teams are deciding it’s not worth the hassle and cost. We’re seeing two common workarounds:

Option 1: Breaking Apart the VxRail Stack

Some are taking the hardware (PowerEdge servers and switches) and:

• Ditching the VxRail software
  
• Rebuilding with other virtualization platforms like:
  
  • Microsoft Hyper-V
    
  • Proxmox
    
  • XenServer
    

Heads up: If you go this route, you’ll need to add a hardware RAID controller to the PowerEdge servers. VxRail uses software RAID, which you lose once you remove the VxRail software layer.

Option 2: Self-Support + Third-Party Maintenance

Others are sticking with VMware but not bothering with official support:

• Running the VMware environment themselves
  
• Putting the hardware under a third-party support contract (which often costs way less than Dell ProSupport)
  
• Accepting the risk, but staying operational and in control
  

The Bottom Line

If you’re trying to renew VxRail support, it’s not just you — it really is this messy right now.

Here’s what we recommend:

• Don’t assume Broadcom’s policies will stay the same — they’ve already changed once
  
• Push back on support options that don’t make sense for your actual needs
  
• Explore alternatives now, so you’re not caught off guard later