Acumera Buys Scale Computing, Targets Broadcom-VMware

“We aren’t falling to the next Broadcom. We’re becoming the next VMware. The good one. The one that innovated, that embraced partners and served customers with those partners. That was just as happy to take on a small SMB client or a large global enterprise,” said Scale Computing cofounder, president and chief marketing officer Jeff Ready.

Scale Computing is being acquired by edge-computing company Acumera for an undisclosed sum in a deal that doubles Scale’s revenue, workforce and customer base and is set to fuel the scrappy HCI provider’s relentless quest to take share from Broadcom’s VMware.

“The opportunity is so great, and the time is now,” Scale Computing’s co-founder Jeff Ready told CRN via email Thursday morning. “We aren’t falling to the next Broadcom. We’re becoming the next VMware. The good one. The one that innovated, that embraced partners and served customers WITH those partners. That was just as happy to take on a small SMB client or a large global enterprise.”

The deal is backed by private equity investor Oaktree Capital Management, which was founded in 1995 and has $209 billion in assets under management.

The new company will be called Scale Computing. Ready (pictured above) is remaining on board as president and chief marketing officer, while Acumera’s Bill Morrow will become CEO of the combined company.

“The newly combined company’s technology offerings are a significant step forward in our vision to empower organizations of all sizes with intelligent, AI-ready edge infrastructure that reduces complexity while enhancing performance and resilience,” said Morrow, CEO of the new Scale Computing, in a statement. “We are enthusiastic about this opportunity and together we will redefine what’s possible at the edge.”

Austin, Texas-based Acumera has a portfolio of secure edge connectivity, and visibility products, while Indianapolis-based Scale has created its own brand of hyperconverged and edge virtualization products which Ready has relentlessly positioned as the VMware alternative since Broadcom announced its intention to buy VMware in May 2022.

In January, Scale announced record growth in 2024 with an increase in software sales of more than 45 percent year over year, and it had more than doubled its number of new customers over the last year. The company said business accelerated throughout the year with fourth-quarter software sales up 77 percent and new logos up 350 percent from the year-ago period.

Those numbers came on the back of massive gains the year prior, Ready told CRN.

“The industry has seen turmoil? chaos? immoral behavior? Something like that, in the wake of Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware,” Ready told CRN in the email. “Who has been at the epicenter of that destructive behavior? The channel, and the customers served by the channel.”

Ready said Scale has capitalized on the disruption as VMware’s channel was squeezed by Broadcom’s tactics that have included eliminating the partner program without warning, followed by the introduction of an invitation only program. That move shed thousands of smaller VMware partners, reducing the total partner count from about 25,000 in 2023 to around 18,000 in 2024.

In reply to CRN questions about concerns raised by Scale Computing, Broadcom said it saw the announcement that Scale Computing had been acquired, however it is focused on selling its own lineup of products.

“(We) saw that this acquisition had taken place and the commentary from the company. We don’t have anything to add to this story as we are focused on building on the continued momentum for VMware Cloud Foundation with our customers, and helping them accelerate their adoption and deployment of VCF 9.0, which went GA last month,” a spokesperson for Broadcom said in an email.

Broadcom changed how VMware was sold, and bundled products together that customers don’t use, then changed pricing that saw bills skyrocket 8 to 10 times higher. Broadcom eliminated perpetual licenses, issued legal threats in the form of cease and desist letters to customers still using perpetual licenses, and told a children’s hospital negotiating its renewal prices that “VMware is not for everyone.”

The tactics have fueled both anger in the channel and the growth of VMware’s competitors, including Nutanix and Scale Computing.

“It’s a big move for us, for Acumera, and for our partners,” Ready said. “But together, we are the new Scale Computing, and we are standing firm in our values, backed by some of the largest investors in the world, and betting that partners and customers will choose to work with the vendor who shows integrity, operates with accountability, and stands as a vigilant champion for them.”