The word “disruption” gets thrown around a lot when discussing the tech industry. Disruptive technologies. Disruptive ideas. Disruptive companies and business models. Even “disruptive innovation” or its younger cousins, “big-bang disruption” and “new-market disruption.” The list goes on … and on.
In recent years, the idea of disruption has become something of a cliché, regularly overused and often misunderstood. So much so, that some would argue its true meaning — in the digital and technological sense, anyway — has been diluted beyond recognition, going the way of words like “literally” or “genius.” Even the Harvard Business Review (HBR), which first introduced the public to the “theory of disruptive innovation” in 1995, has since asked us all to kindly pump the breaks.
Of course, the inherent problem with adopting such a broad definition — with continuously making mountains out of mole hills — is that sometimes, every once in a while, the path forward is interrupted by a genuine, real-life mountain. I’m talking an Everest. Disruption that’s actually, you know, disruptive.
Dealing with Disruption
In November 2023, tech-giant Broadcom acquired VMware for $69 billion, a move that sent shockwaves through the enterprise software market and beyond. Then, in January of this year, Broadcom announced a series of major operational and strategic changes, including the streamlining of VMware’s product bundles and partnerships along with new billing models.
Briefly, these changes, both to the business and its licensing, include:
- Debuting a new platform across the board: VMware Cloud Foundation.
- Capping the total number of Pinnacle Partners to 100 worldwide.
- Reducing the number of total VMware cloud services providers.
- Sunsetting the option to buy perpetual VMware licenses in favor of subscription-based licenses.
- Terminating OEM agreements, and plans to create new agreements with more OEMs moving forward.
- Ending support contacts.
This, my friends, is what true digital disruption looks like. This is the mountain on pathway. This is the storm in the marketplace. Gartner defines digital disruption — which is not to be with confused (but often is) with technological disruption or disruptive technologies — as “an effect that changes the fundamental expectations and behaviors in a culture, market, industry or process that is caused by, or expressed through, digital capabilities, channels, or assets.” Yeah, I’d say this VMware situation emphatically checks those boxes.
So the question becomes: When disruption is actually disruptive, what are we to do?
Navigating the Seas of Change
In the intervening weeks and months since Broadcom announced its seismic changes, customers and partners around the world have scrambled to calculate the potential impact and begin to chart the best path forward. As Gartner would put it, their “fundamental expectations and behaviors” — and those of the IT industry at large — have drastically shifted. Some might even say they’ve been rocked by the sheer magnitude of it all.
To be clear, disruption is neither positive nor negative. It’s as neutral as a mountain or a storm. It’s just a change that needs to be processed. But the fact is, humans just don’t like change. We find it uncomfortable. Something to be avoided. When it comes to the recent VMware changes, in particular, this has proven true. In our conversations with customers, partners, and those in the industry, we’re finding that many are unprepared and ill-equipped for the upheaval these recent changes have wrought. However, disruption can be navigated effectively if you have the right strategies and tools at your disposal.
This is not the first time VMware has played the role of industry disruptor. Once upon a time, in 1998, the Palo Alto, California-based company was a pioneer on the frontiers of virtualization, a critical building block for what would become cloud computing, in which hardware, such as a physical server, can be swapped out for software. While VMware, and the industry it fostered, certainly looks much different than it did back then, these changes are nothing more than the status quo, especially within the world of IT where change is the only constant. As we all did back then, we must begin by shifting how we think about and consume our cloud resources.
At 11:11 Systems, we believe this begins with a “cloud smart” approach. The goal of a “cloud smart” strategy is to more effectively tailor your organization’s cloud adoption with its unique circumstances, goals, and business values. Rather than advocating for an all-inclusive embrace of cloud technology, it aims to drive a consistent, secure, and cost-efficient operating model across all the cloud you rely on. This means choosing the right platform for each application, based on what your business needs. No one size will fit all.
If your business is one of those caught in the storm of these recent changes, we can help you steer through rough waters. Watch our recent webinar to understand the options you have and the best ways to navigate them. The discussion includes:
- How to take a strategic approach to VMware changes that helps future-proof your business and explore the best cloud options.
- What you can do to maximize benefits and minimize costs.
- How to create a cloud smart strategy that matches the right workloads to the right cloud at the right time.
- Why 11:11’s association as a VMware Pinnacle Partner can provide you with the best pricing and solution optimization possible.
