One of a dozen top tier cloud provider partners in North America
Prior to Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware at the end of 2023, there were more than 4,500 VMware cloud service providers worldwide. Today, that number has narrowed significantly, introducing seismic changes to the technology solution marketplace.
Moving forward, Broadcom will rely on a much smaller number of VMware cloud service providers with an even smaller number of those providers being named VMware Pinnacle Partners — a new, key subset of the most qualified, strategic, and transformational partners in the world. 11:11 Systems is, officially, one of those partners.
Recently, Broadcom not only invited 11:11 to be a part of its cloud service provider program but named us a VMware Pinnacle Partner. As such, we will be one of a dozen top tier cloud provider partners in North America and one of only 100 worldwide. This means, as customers navigate the post-acquisition landscape — and the significant and ongoing transformation it brings — 11:11 will continue to be in a prime position to help.
“Broadcom has limited the number of cloud providers and channel partners they are working with,” explained Dante Orsini, chief strategy officer at 11:11 Systems. “There were 4500+ VMware cloud service providers globally. Now Broadcom is hyper-focused on going to market with one hundred of us globally, so that puts 11:11 in a great position.”
Along with requiring customers to buy an annual subscription moving forward — instead of perpetual licenses — these changes create a lot of uncertainty for anyone using VMware in their IT environment. During all of this, we’ve already started assisting customers plot their course forward.
“What Broadcom is trying to do is simplify the go-to-market strategy for both their direct customers as well as their channel partners,” emphasized Orsini. “But in many cases, this may mean a significant increase in their VMware pricing. That’s why it will be so important for customers to work with a Pinnacle Partner Cloud Service Provider like 11:11 Systems. We can find the best value for them, based on where they are in their cloud journey.”
Leverage VMware expertise and cloud consulting knowledge
Whether customers are managing their IT entirely on-premises, just starting to migrate, or are leveraging a multi-cloud environment, 11:11 Systems has expertise and a deep, long-term understanding of VMware and its technology. Customers can make the most of that familiarity with VMware to experience predictable outcomes. In addition, our global presence and deep bench of technology solutions provide an unparalleled advantage.
For hybrid organizations that are managing many different infrastructures in multiple locations, VMware licensing changes may encourage them to accelerate their modernization. Others may decide it will be more cost-effective to run their workloads on premises. Those decisions will be unique to each organization and each journey.
This is another reason it will be important to reach out for the expert advice 11:11 Systems can provide. As Orsini explained, “An important benefit that we bring is more than 40 years of consulting experience. Our consultants can help customers understand where they are today in comparison to other organizations in the industry, but we can also help create a blueprint for them to see what it will take to migrate, modernize, protect, or otherwise manage their IT infrastructure.”
We know that many organizations are confused and uncertain about VMware licensing changes and what to do next. But making a knee-jerk decision won’t be in the best interest of long-term strategies. The best advice we can give is to work with a strategic partner like 11:11 Systems with extensive knowledge of VMware and hyperconverged environments to make plans on the best way to move forward.
