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Broadcom is laying off employees of VMware, a company it recently acquired for $61 billion. That's not surprising to analysts or users given how the company's acquisition of CA Technologies transpired.
Broadcom has yet to say how many employees are being laid off. Based on LinkedIn profiles, people with job titles in marketing, engineering, cloud security, sales and program management are among those losing their jobs. A Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notice filed in Colorado said 184 employees were to be cut in Broomfield.
However, there were concerns about how the Broadcom acquisition would affect VMware employees and products well before the acquisition closed Nov. 22. After acquiring CA Technologies for nearly $19 billion in 2018, Broadcom made some deep cuts in staffing.
Constellation Research founder and analyst R "Ray" Wang said Broadcom is executing on its acquisition playbook and will slash everything above the most it is willing to spend in a particular area. "That's how Broadcom makes money in these acquisitions," he said.
Customers have to learn to push back if something is not right.
R 'Ray' WangFounder and analyst, Constellation Research
Customers can choose to end services with a company if they don't like its decisions, Wang said, but the challenge is the use of software, including older systems, that they can't live without.
When it's time for contract renewal negotiations, customers should demand to have the same level of service, access to product roadmaps and input into products that they had before, Wang said.
"Customers have to learn to push back if something is not right," he said.
Some exiting by choice
Brian Kirsch, an IT architect and instructor at Milwaukee Area Technical College, long involved in VMware's user groups, said employees are also choosing to leave. From what he is seeing, some senior staff at VMware have left, retired or are considering leaving -- in part because they've looked at what happened at CA Technologies following Broadcom's acquisition.
Kirsch said many other companies, including Microsoft and Intel, would be a better fit for VMware. "Broadcom just did not feel right," he said.
VMware has a good history of sharing roadmaps and considering customer input, according to Kirsch. "They listened -- that was their culture," he said. He is still determining what Broadcom will do with VMware.
Broadcom did not respond to a request for comment.
Patrick Thibodeau covers HCM and ERP technologies for TechTarget Editorial. He's worked for more than two decades as an enterprise IT reporter.
