Common Mistakes in Broadcom Negotiations
Introduction – Why Mistakes Cost More with Broadcom:
Broadcom’s hardline negotiation style means even small missteps can cost you dearly.
This vendor is notorious for rigid contract terms, minimal discounts, and “take-it-or-leave-it” offers. For enterprise customers, a single mistake – a missed deadline, a vague verbal promise, a poorly planned deal – can lock in costly, inflexible terms that are hard to escape.
The stakes are high: Broadcom’s post-acquisition strategy (as seen with VMware, Symantec, CA, etc.) is profit-first, so avoiding common pitfalls is critical to protect your budget and leverage. For the complete guide, read Broadcom Negotiation Tactics: Pricing, Discounts, and Leverage Strategies.
Below, we outline seven common mistakes companies make in Broadcom negotiations – and how to avoid them.
Each mistake is paired with its risks and recommended alternatives, providing a quick-reference guide on what not to do in a Broadcom deal.
Mistake 1: Waiting Too Long to Start Negotiations
Why it’s risky: Procrastinating on a Broadcom renewal is a recipe for disaster. Broadcom often imposes strict deadlines and offers little flexibility as the expiration date nears. If you wait until the last 60–90 days to engage, you’ve already lost leverage – you may have missed notice periods (making it impossible to cancel or change terms) and have no time to evaluate alternatives.
Broadcom’s team will sense that you’re under pressure and may issue “take-it-or-leave-it” ultimatums. They’re known to use the ticking clock against customers, for example, by dangling a “one-time discount” that expires in a few days to pressure a quick signature. In this time crunch, buyers often end up agreeing to inflated prices or unfavorable terms just to avoid service interruptions, and Broadcom is aware of this.
What to do instead:
Begin renewal planning at least 12 months (or more) before your contract expiration. Starting early gives you time to audit your usage, explore competitor solutions or third-party support, and internally align on goals (including budget approvals for worst-case scenarios).
When Broadcom knows you have runway, they can’t bully you with last-minute deadlines. By engaging early, you can methodically push back on high quotes, escalate within Broadcom if needed, and even adjust your timeline to coincide with Broadcom’s quarter-end (when they may be slightly more flexible).
In short, use time to your advantage – if Broadcom’s quote isn’t acceptable, you’ll have the breathing room to say “no” or seek alternatives, rather than scrambling at the eleventh hour.
Mistake 2: Ignoring Auto-Renew Clauses
Why it’s risky:
Failing to manage auto-renewal terms is a classic mistake that Broadcom can exploit. Many legacy contracts from CA or Symantec (now Broadcom) – and even newer Broadcom subscription agreements – include auto-renew clauses that kick in if you don’t give notice to cancel within a specified period (often 60 or 90 days before expiration).
If you overlook these clauses, your contract may auto-renew for another full term by default, often at the full list price or with a built-in price increase. In other words, you wake up to find you’re locked into another year (or more) on Broadcom’s terms, with no opportunity to negotiate a better deal.
This not only blindsides your budget (imagine an automatic 10–20% price hike or more), but it also erases your leverage – Broadcom has no incentive to negotiate if you’re already committed for the next term. Many enterprises have been caught off-guard by a renewal they didn’t intend, simply because they missed a notice deadline buried in the contract.
What to do instead:
Track and manage all renewal dates and notice periods diligently. The moment you sign a Broadcom deal, mark the non-renewal notice deadline on your calendar (and set reminders well ahead of time).
Treat it as a hard internal deadline: decide before that date whether you intend to renew or not. If you anticipate needing to reduce or cancel, send Broadcom a formal notice of non-renewal to prevent an automatic extension. (You can still negotiate a new contract afterward, but you’ll have preserved the option to walk away.)
Even if you plan to renew, avoiding the auto-renewal gives you a chance to renegotiate pricing and terms rather than accepting the status quo. In summary: never let a Broadcom contract renew by silence – always proactively confirm or decline in writing well before the deadline, so you stay in control of the renewal process.
Read how pricing works, Broadcom Software Pricing Negotiation Guide.
Mistake 3: Accepting Verbal Promises
Why it’s risky:
Taking a sales rep’s word at face value is dangerous in any negotiation, but especially with Broadcom. Broadcom’s representatives may casually assure you of future discounts, flexible terms, or custom concessions verbally. Still, if it’s not written into the contract (or at least an official email), it does not exist when push comes to shove.
Customers who trust verbal promises often find that those commitments “mysteriously” evaporate later. For example, a rep might say, “Don’t worry, we’ll allow you to reduce 10% of licenses next year if needed,” or, “We’ll give you a better price on that new product when you’re ready.”
Yet when the time comes, Broadcom HQ sticks to the contract language – and if that flexibility isn’t in writing, you’re out of luck. The salesperson might have meant well, but Broadcom’s culture is to enforce what’s signed, not what was said. Nothing is binding unless it’s documented.
Relying on verbal agreements leaves you with no legal or practical recourse if Broadcom later denies ever offering that deal. This mistake can lead to unwelcome surprises, such as missing discounts, forgotten add-ons, or stricter terms than you initially believed.
What to do instead:
Get everything in writing – no exceptions.
Treat verbal statements as non-binding hints until they’re confirmed in an email, quote, or contract draft. If a Broadcom rep offers a concession during a call, politely say, “Great, please send that in an updated quote (or email) so we can include it in the agreement.” Insist that all special terms, discounts, or flexibility be explicitly written into the final contract. It’s also wise to keep detailed notes of meetings and immediately email recaps to the vendor (e.g., “As discussed, Broadcom will provide X at no additional cost…”).
By creating a paper trail, you protect yourself from “memory lapses” later. In short, trust Broadcom’s contract, not their promises – if they say something important, make sure it’s memorialized in the deal documents. This disciplined approach ensures you’re not caught off guard by any unwritten changes of heart.
Mistake 4: Negotiating in Silos
Why it’s risky:
A fragmented approach to Broadcom – where IT, procurement, and legal teams each engage separately or inconsistently – will weaken your position. Broadcom’s sales strategy can exploit internal disarray. If your technical team is negotiating VMware features while procurement haggles over Symantec pricing and legal review terms in isolation, you’re not presenting a united front.
You might miss the big picture and dilute your leverage. For example, if each product line (VMware, security, and mainframe) is negotiated independently, Broadcom sees each as a smaller deal, and smaller deals receive smaller discounts. You lose the advantage of your total account value.
Similarly, a lack of internal alignment means that one group might inadvertently concede something that undermines another’s goals (e.g., IT might agree to a bundle that procurement didn’t price-check, or procurement might accept a term that legal finds risky, etc.).
Broadcom often prefers to deal with a single, coordinated customer team; if they sense confusion or siloed communications, they can play one angle against another or push through less favorable terms before your team has a chance to compare notes. In short, negotiating in silos is like fighting with one hand tied behind your back.
What to do instead:
Coordinate and unify your negotiation efforts. Before engaging Broadcom, assemble a cross-functional team – typically IT, procurement, finance, and legal – that will work together on the strategy.
Internally agree on roles, priorities, and your “red lines.” All communications to Broadcom should be consistent and come from a core group that’s in sync.
This unity prevents the vendor from hearing different answers from different departments.
Also, consider bundling your negotiations when feasible. If you have multiple contracts with Broadcom (for example, one for VMware and one for Symantec), try to co-terminate and negotiate them together as a single, larger package.
A consolidated deal increases your spend (in Broadcom’s eyes) and can yield better volume discounts or concessions than piecemeal renewals.
Presenting one face to Broadcom – with your team speaking in one voice – demonstrates strength. It tells Broadcom that your organization is organized, informed, and won’t be divided and conquered. The result is typically a more favorable outcome and a contract that all stakeholders can live with.
Mistake 5: Failing to Benchmark Pricing
Why it’s risky:
Broadcom often justifies high prices by positioning them as the “new standard” or claiming limited discount policies – and if you haven’t done your homework, you might just accept a grossly inflated quote.
After Broadcom acquires a company, it’s notorious for steep price hikes. (Customers have reported initial renewal quotes double, triple, even 4× higher than what they paid before.) If you lack external benchmarks, you’re negotiating in the dark. Broadcom’s sales reps might say, “This is our best and final – all customers are paying this rate now.” Without data, you won’t know if that’s truth or bluff.
The mistake here is blindly trusting Broadcom’s pricing or failing to seek evidence to counter it. This can lead to overpaying by millions over the contract term.
Additionally, failing to benchmark means you can’t readily demonstrate to your executives (or Broadcom) that their offer is out of line – you’re essentially going by Broadcom’s narrative.
In an era where some Broadcom clients have seen cost increases of 200–300% (or more) post-acquisition, not having a comparison point is extremely risky for your budget.
What to do instead:
Arm yourself with independent pricing benchmarks and competitive options. Before you sit down with Broadcom, gather intelligence: What increases are other enterprises seeing? What discount percentage off the list price is typical for a deal of your size? Industry research firms, analyst reports, or third-party advisors can provide anonymized data – for instance, knowledge that “Company X got a 50% discount” or “Many customers refused Broadcom’s first 300% increase offer and negotiated it down to 75% increase.” Use this information in discussions (without naming others, of course) to show you’re an informed buyer.
Also, seek alternative quotes where possible. Even if switching away from Broadcom is hard, knowing the cost of a competing product or a third-party support contract gives you a sanity check and a potential negotiation chip (“We could move to Y vendor for $$, so Broadcom’s price needs to come closer to that value”).
Essentially, do not accept Broadcom’s pricing in a vacuum – shine a light on it from the outside. With solid benchmarks, you can confidently push back on extreme increases and demand a fairer deal, rather than swallowing “Broadcom’s price” as gospel.
Mistake 6: Overcommitting to Bundled Products
Why it’s risky:
Broadcom loves to sell broad product bundles and multi-product “portfolio” agreements – and it’s easy to get talked into buying more products or capacity than you actually need. Overcommitting happens when customers agree to a large bundle “just in case” or because the sales pitch makes it seem like a bargain to get everything.
The pitfall is ending up with shelfware – licenses and modules that sit unused, wasting budget. For example, Broadcom might propose a bundled suite (covering, say, your VMware, security, and DevOps tools) for one flat fee. It sounds convenient, but if you only actively use 70% of that bundle, the rest is paid-for fluff.
Moreover, once you’ve signed a bundle, Broadcom’s contracts usually lock you in for the term with no refunds or removals for unused components. If your needs change or one product in the bundle proves to be redundant, you’re still required to pay for it, regardless. Another risk: bundling can obscure the cost of individual elements.
You may not realize that one piece of the bundle is wildly overpriced because it’s hidden in the total.
Overcommitting not only means paying for software you don’t use, but it can also complicate your environment by introducing tools you didn’t truly need (at the vendor’s behest). It’s a budget-draining trap that many organizations fall into during Broadcom negotiations.
What to do instead:
Bundle carefully and demand flexibility.
First, take a close look at the products and features you actually need. Don’t let Broadcom’s “all-in-one” bundle vision cloud your assessment – if you won’t use a component in the next term, push back on including it. It’s perfectly acceptable to say, “We only need products A, B, and C, but not D.”
Broadcom may resist unpackaging a deal, but large customers can often negotiate a customized bundle that fits their real needs. Secondly, insist on terms that mitigate the risk of shelfware.
This could mean negotiating swap rights (e.g., if six months in, you find product D unused, you can exchange it for credits toward another Broadcom product that is more useful to you) or, at the very least, the right to drop unused components in the next renewal cycle. If swap/drop rights are hard to get mid-term, then focus on a shorter contract term for that bundle so you’re not stuck for too long.
Also, strive for price transparency – ask Broadcom to disclose the internal pricing of each bundle element, or at least provide a cost breakdown. That way, you can identify if one part of the bundle is consuming a huge chunk of the cost and challenge it. In essence, don’t buy Broadcom’s entire menu if you only came for a few items.
Bundle for convenience and discount leverage, yes, but on your terms. And always monitor usage during the term; if something in the bundle isn’t used, bring that data to the next negotiation to either remove it or get a better deal for it. The goal is to pay only for the value received, not for Broadcom’s shelf decorations.
Mistake 7: Not Having a Walk-Away Plan
Why it’s risky:
Broadcom negotiators are famous (infamous) for their toughness – they will not hesitate to issue “take it or leave it” deal deadlines, betting that most customers can’t afford to walk away. If you have no contingency plan, this bluff isn’t a bluff at all – you truly can’t leave it. Going into a Broadcom negotiation without a Plan B puts you at the vendor’s mercy.
Broadcom may tell you, “If you don’t renew by X date, your support will lapse and that discount is gone,” or “We won’t extend – this offer is final.” In those moments, if you have no alternative, your only real option is to accept their terms (or risk a critical outage or compliance breach when the software is no longer licensed).
Many enterprises make the mistake of assuming they must renew regardless of the circumstances and thus never prepare an exit strategy. Broadcom can smell that desperation. Without a walk-away plan, you’ll find yourself swallowing hard on a bad deal, because Broadcom believes (correctly) that you’re stuck.
Essentially, no fallback = no leverage. It’s a fragile position that Broadcom’s hardball tactics will exploit, especially in the final stretch of negotiations.
What to do instead:
Develop a credible fallback plan well in advance, and ensure Broadcom is aware (or at least suspects) that you have options. This doesn’t mean you must actually leave Broadcom’s platform tomorrow, but you should map out how you could cope if a deal isn’t reached.
For instance, identify third-party support providers for your Broadcom software (some firms can support older versions of VMware or CA products, buying you time without Broadcom). Or determine which parts of your environment could be replaced or reduced: maybe you can shift some workloads off VMware to cloud-native services, or you have a secondary security solution that could cover for Symantec temporarily.
Even a plan to freeze upgrades and use the current software without vendor support for a period can be part of Plan B (some organizations have chosen to run stable versions of Broadcom-owned software on their own rather than pay a huge increase).
The key is preparation and executive buy-in – ensure your leadership understands the fallback plan and is willing to execute it if Broadcom’s offer is truly unreasonable. When you have this in your back pocket, you can respond to Broadcom’s threats with confidence.
Often, calling Broadcom’s bluff (politely) changes their tune: if they realize you might actually walk, they’re more likely to soften on that “last” offer. In practice, the best outcome is not to abandon Broadcom outright, but to have enough credible alternatives that you can negotiate from strength.
So do your homework early: know what you’ll do if Broadcom won’t deal, get that plan ready, and you’ll likely never have to fully use it – the mere ability to walk away helps ensure you won’t have to.
Quick-Reference Checklist: 7 Mistakes to Avoid
- Waiting until the last minute: Late negotiations give Broadcom all the leverage. Fix: Start engagement 12 months or more before expiry to avoid deadline pressure.
- Avoiding auto-renewal traps: Forgetting 60–90 day notice periods can result in being auto-locked in at full price. Fix: Track renewal dates and send non-renewal notices well in advance.
- Trusting unwritten promises: Verbal assurances from reps mean nothing once the contract is signed. Fix: Get every discount, flexibility, or term in writing (email/contract) – no exceptions.
- Working in silos: Disconnected IT, procurement, and legal efforts weaken your stance. Fix: Align internally and present a unified negotiation team and strategy across all Broadcom products.
- Not benchmarking “Broadcom pricing”: Accepting Broadcom’s first quote without market context risks overpaying massively. Fix: Research industry pricing, benchmark against peers/analysts, and gather competitive quotes to challenge inflated offers.
- Over-buying bundles: Signing up for Broadcom’s entire suite “just in case” leads to shelfware and wasted budget. Solution: Only purchase what you need, and negotiate the right to remove or swap out unused products.
- No walk-away fallback: If you have zero alternative to renewing, Broadcom holds all the cards. Fix: Prepare a Plan B (third-party support or tech alternatives) so you can credibly say “no” if needed – thereby forcing a better “yes.”
5 Tactical Recommendations for Broadcom Deals
To wrap up, here are five concrete tactics to strengthen your Broadcom negotiation and avoid the pitfalls above:
- Kick off renewals early (12+ months ahead): The earlier you start, the more options and leverage you have. Don’t let Broadcom dictate the timeline – set your own pace well in advance.
- Proactively manage renewal deadlines: Mark all auto-renewal notice dates and contract end dates to ensure timely reminders. Send cancellation notices promptly (even if you expect to renew under new terms) so you maintain the freedom to negotiate.
- Document every commitment: Make “In Writing Only” your mantra. Ensure that quotes, emails, and the final contract accurately capture all agreed-upon prices, discounts, and special terms. No handshake deals – only signed deals.
- Negotiate as one team: Bring IT, procurement, legal, and finance together to develop a unified strategy. Engage with Broadcom through a single, unified front and consider consolidating deals for improved volume leverage. Internal alignment = a stronger external position.
- Benchmark and have a backup plan: Come armed with pricing benchmarks and consider alternative vendors or support as a safety net. Knowing the market value and having a fallback option gives you the confidence (and power) to push back on Broadcom’s demands.
By avoiding the common mistakes and following these best practices, you can approach Broadcom negotiations with a strategic edge.
The goal is to secure the best possible terms for your organization – without getting trapped by Broadcom’s default playbook.
Stay proactive, informed, and united, and you’ll turn Broadcom’s hardball approach into a more balanced, successful deal for your enterprise.
Read about our Broadcom Negotiation Service.
