Rimini Street said it will offer support services for VMware products so customers can continue to run their perpetually licensed software.
The move comes as VMware customers are pondering next moves following the company's acquisition by Broadcom. Broadcom has retooled VMware's business model in a pivot to subscriptions and altered customer bundles. The VMware timeline since Broadcom closed the purchase has been eventful to say the least.
Broadcom has had a steady cadence of blogs that appear to be aimed at allaying VMware customer concerns. To date, Nutanix has been the biggest beneficiary of VMware customer angst. It's unclear whether Broadcom's blog barrage is hitting the mark, but the missives collectively acknowledge that VMware customers may be a smidge disgruntled. The rundown:
- May 6. Broadcom addresses concerns about VMware Cloud on AWS.
- April 15. Broadcom CEO Tan says VMware customers can get support extensions amid subscription transition.
- March 14. Tan recaps first 100 days of VMware purchase, noted that "this level of change has understandably created some unease among our customers and partners."
- Feb. 14. VMware acknowledges that changes have been rough on customers, but a long blog post could be classified as mansplaining.
- Dec. 11: VMware outlined product rationalization and subscription plan.
Rimini Street said it will launch Rimini Support, Rimini Protect and Rimini Consult for VMware. The support services include priority support response by an engineer in 10 minutes or less. According to Rimini Street, the support fees are similar to the current fees paid by perpetual VMware licensees.
Constellation Research CEO Ray Wang said:
"VMWare customers have felt pressured to a forced move onto the cloud at exorbitant markups. This new Rimini Street offering gives VMWare customers choice in remaining on-premises without a forced march to the cloud and exorbitant markups in maintenance. This is a case where the government’s antitrust failed customers."
Seth Ravin, CEO of Rimini Street, said VMware customers have been looking for alternatives to extend licensed software and buy time.
Rimini Street offers support services for SAP and Oracle as well as AWS and Salesforce. The VMware situation fits into Rimini Street's core competencies. It has offered support for SAP and Oracle customers who didn't want to upgrade and/or pay support and maintenance fee increases.
In a statement, Rimini Street noted that VMware customers need time to analyze Broadcom's terms and evaluate virtualization platforms. The company said:
"VMware perpetual licensees need time to analyze the software vendor’s proposed changes and determine if they are going to eventually accept their new licensing model and fees, attempt to negotiate new licensing terms and fees or evaluate, select and implement a new virtualization platform. In any of these cases, selecting Rimini Support for VMware buys an organization the time - up to years."
Here's the breakdown of what Rimini Street is launching:
- Rimini Support for VMware, a 24/7/365 support service that has dedicated services for configuration, performance, installation, upgrades and customization. A primary engineer with an average of 15 years’ experience and guaranteed 10-minute response time.
- Rimini Protect for VMware with security assessments, vulnerability reports and zero-day reporting.
- Rimini Consult for VMware, a set of consulting services for road mapping, license advisory, cloud migrations, and other issues.
In its first quarter, Rimini Street reported revenue of $106.7 million with sales evenly split between US and international customers. The company has 3,040 active clients as of March 31.
On Rimini Street's first quarter earnings conference call, Ravin said customers are looking to extend software for anywhere from 3 to 10 years as they think through next platforms. Rimini Street used to cater to CIOs, but increasingly CFOs and procurement executives are interested in extending support via a third party, said Ravin.
He also noted that VMware customers were reaching out to Rimini Street.
Rimini said earlier this month:
"One of the largest apps that we’ve had so far is VMware because of the moves that happened over there with Broadcom’s acquisition. A lot of customers are looking for a solution to their VMware challenge now. I think this is an example where we can come in, in a marketplace where there is a sudden demand or a sudden surge and bring our expertise to the table and a solution potentially."
