Ingram Micro to 'stop doing business' with Broadcom, downgrade to 'limited engagement' on VMware

Exclusive Tech distribution behemoth Ingram Micro will stop doing business with Broadcom and its VMware range in many territories next year.

In a statement sent to The Register, an Ingram spokesperson told us: "We were unable to reach an agreement with Broadcom that would help our customers deliver the best technology outcomes now and in the future while providing an appropriate shareholder return."

That decision means that from "early January 2025, Ingram Micro will no longer be doing business with Broadcom and have limited engagement with VMware in select regions."

The distie told us this change is not material to its business, and customers and other vendors have been informed.

"For us and the more than 1,500 vendors and 161,000 customers we work with, the future of business is focused on transforming relationships, not just transacting sales," the spokesperson explained.

Ingram's decision is a challenge to Broadcom, which after acquiring VMware decided to emphasize services delivered through the channel for many customers.

However, The Register has heard from VMware users who felt Ingram struggled to handle the increased responsibilities it assumed under this arrangement. We've been told of slow responses, and that Ingram struggled to replicate the expertise that pre-acquisition VMware's support teams delivered. Banter on social media suggests similar experiences were not uncommon.

Ingram's decision means VMware's channel has more change to digest, after a year in which Broadcom cancelled its partner program and created a new one that excluded some existing partners. Some of those partners ran small VMware-powered clouds, and faced being unable to secure licenses – meaning their customers would have faced unwelcome disruption. Broadcom hastily created a scheme under which small resellers outside its cloud partner program could acquire licenses from bigger players.

Another change to Broadcom's plans saw it cordon off 2,000 VMware customers to work with directly, rendering them off limits to its channel. It then diluted that decision by deciding it will work direct with only 500 VMware users.

Resellers that don't have relationships with distributors other than Ingram will now need to make friends – fast.

• Broadcom says VMware is a better money-making machine than it hoped
• Broadcom loses another big VMware customer: UK fintech cloud Beeks Group, and most of its 20,000 VMs
• AWS bends to Broadcom's will with VMware Cloud Foundation as-a-service
• A year after Broadcom took control of VMware, it's in the box seat

The Register has sought comment from Broadcom, and clarification from Ingram on the extent of its future engagement with VMware and the territories in which it will still work with VMware. We'll update this story if we receive substantial responses.

Losing a major distributor is never a good look. Especially when, like Ingram, it goes public with a view it can't make a relationship sufficiently profitable on the terms offered.

Broadcom, however, posted very strong results just last week, and told investors it's on track to make VMware more profitable than it originally thought was possible.

The software-and-silicon conglomerate has also had more good news on the VMware front, in the form of a December 13 filing [PDF] that confirmed it's reached a settlement with AT&T over a support entitlement dispute that saw the telecoms giant threaten to abandon its VMware estate. ®

Updated to add at 2115 UTC, March 16

Broadcom sent The Register the following statement: