VMware’s New Cloud Service Provider Program Launched: 8 Big Things To Know
VMware’s new VMware Cloud Service Provider (VCSP) program began on Nov. 1 with a slew of changes in store for partners. Here’s eight big things all VMware partners need to know about the new VCSP program.
Broadcom’s new fiscal year arrived this week along with an avalanche of changes for VMware partners with the launch of a revamped, more inclusive VMware Cloud Service Provider (VCSP) program.
“We want our CSPs to grow bigger and bigger and bigger and much faster, whether it’s acquiring the business of departing (VCSP) partners or buying them outright,” said VMware’s Ahmar Mohammad, who crafted the new VCSP program.
“We want larger and bigger partners who can put up a fight,” Mohammad said.
On Oct. 31, Broadcom ended the former VCSP program.
On Nov. 1, the new, invite-only program was officially launched.
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At least hundreds, if not thousands, of VMware partners who were enrolled in the former VCSP program were not invited back into the new VCSP program.
Another big change in the Broadcom ecosystem is that VMware partners can no longer be both a cloud service provider (CSP) and a reseller, while the vendor also ended its white label model for the channel.
Broadcom Makes Big VMware Partner Changes
Broadcom, who made CRN’s 2025 Edge Computing 100 list, has made monumental changes to VMware’s channel since it acquired VMware for $61 billion in 2023.
Broadcom’s global channel chief, Brian Moats, said VMware is now doubling down on solution providers who are all-in with VMware.
“We need those partners who are willing to lean in,” said Moats, senior vice president of global commercial sales and partners. “They will get the fulfillment. They will get the work.”
The tip of the spear for VMware partners must be driving its VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) private cloud platform, with a focus on VCF 9.0.
Moats, senior vice president of global commercial sales and partners, said Broadcom wants “very technical pre-and post-sales” VMware partners that can walk a customer through the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) journey of designing, implement, support and manage VCF.
“If you do that well, you will thrive. You will prosper beyond what you’ve ever experienced with VMware,” Moats said.
Here are eight major things every VMware system integrator, MSP, reseller or consultant needs to know about the new VCSP program and overall channel strategy.
Hundreds, Likely Thousands, Cut Out From VCSP Program; New VCSP Invitations Have Been Sent Out
Hundreds, if not thousands, of VMware partners who were previously enrolled in the former VMware Cloud Service Provider program were not invited back or did not join the new VCSP program.
The company has declined to say how many former VSCP partners were not invited to the new program.
Broadcom has already sent out the invitations to the partners eligible for the new VCSP program.
“The idea of the new VCSP program was not about just [partner] reductions; reduction is a byproduct of it,” said Broadcom’s Mohammad, vice president of partners, managed services and solutions go-to-market.
Mohammad said in the past, a VMware CSP could mean dozens of different things, “like just an outsourcer who provides some managed services on customer data centers. Everybody was under the CSP umbrella.”
“We’re now saying, ‘Look, a cloud service provider is somebody who takes our subscription license as an ingredient, they have their infrastructure that they rack and stack, and they offer that as a finished product to the end customer,” he said.
March 2027 Deadline
For former VMware CSPs who were not invited back, Broadcom says their customers can stay on until March 2027.
“What we have done is basically give them notice that after the current contract, which majority of them end on March 2027, it will not be a renewal,” said Mohammad.
“So their contract stays on. Their customer stays on,” he said. “This is not an immediate, “Hey, you’re off. Go find another home.”
Broadcom Ending White Label Program
Broadcom also officially ended its former white label model on Oct. 31, 2025.
There will be no future for white label offerings by partners after March 2027.
Broadcom Wants Former VCSP Partners To Give Customers To Current VCSP Partners
Broadcom wants former VCSP partners who were not invited into the new program to give their customers support deals to current VCSP partners.
Mohammad (pictured) said Broadcom is encouraging former VCSP partners who didn’t get into the new program “to either sell their company or sell their book of business to a surviving partner.”
“For non-renewing partners, now is the time to create value by evaluating strategic alternatives with retained partners for seamlessly transitioning impacted customers or transferring the VMware book of business to ensure zero disruption to their existing customers,” Mohammad said.
Additionally, customer entitlement to port VCF licenses to public cloud services will be given to only those on the then-current Certified Cloud Services, which will include the then-current active VCSP and hyperscale cloud partners, Mohammad said.
“To be clear, this also means that non-renewing partners will not be certified for VCF license portability,” said Mohammad.
Partners Can No Longer Be Both A Reseller And A CSP
A major change in Broadcom’s VMware channel strategy being implemented is that a partner can no longer be both a CSP and a reseller—the partner must choose one.
This is a hard pill to swallow for many VMware partners who wanted to be both a CSP and a reseller when it came to providing VMware-based solutions.
Who Made The VCSP Cut?
VMware channel partners who were invited into the new VCSP program need to be all-in VMware solution providers who can sell and support the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) private cloud stack.
Broadcom’s channel leaders said the VCSP partners who made the cut can provide services such as disaster recovery as a service, sovereign cloud as a service, backup as a service and container as a service, with the ability to turn VCF into a fully packaged offering.
Mohammad said it will now “mean something” to be a verified VCSP partner.
“So now when I say ‘CSP,’ a customer can expect a clear service-level agreement with a clear outcome,” he said. “We want them to grow bigger and bigger and bigger, and much faster.”
VMware By Broadcom Seeking To Win Share From Public Cloud Players Via VCF 9
The new VCSP program was, in part, built to help all-in VMware partners repatriate workloads in the public cloud to the VCF private cloud platform.
“Broadcom is not going to become a hyperscaler. We don’t have data centers around the world,” Mohammad said. “Our CSPs are our next best thing that they can go and compete against the hyperscaler and provide a viable alternative.”
“We will rely on CSPs to provide the cloud experience where customers are not interested in running their own data center. That’s our biggest bet,” he said.
Moats, for his part, said VMware partners of the future will drive VCF deals.
“The problem is customers want an alternative to public cloud but something that gives them an experience like a public cloud that’s more predictable on cost, has lower costs and is more secure,” Moats said. “That’s what VCF and what our platform is trying to solve.”