Integrating Cloud Services into Broadcom Agreements
Introduction – The Cloud Integration Challenge
Broadcom’s software portfolio now spans traditional on-premises products and cloud services.
After acquiring VMware (virtualization and cloud infrastructure) and Symantec (security, including SaaS offerings), Broadcom offers a comprehensive range of solutions, from data center software to cloud-based services.
This creates a challenge for enterprises: how do you avoid fragmented contracts and manage Broadcom’s on-premises software licenses and cloud services under a single, cohesive agreement? Read our complete guide to Broadcom Cloud & Hybrid Licensing Strategies: Optimizing On-Prem and Cloud Investments.
If not handled strategically, you may end up with separate contracts for VMware on-premises licenses and, for example, VMware Cloud on AWS or Symantec SaaS subscriptions.
The result is more complexity, multiple renewal dates, and potentially higher costs.
In this advisory, we outline Broadcom’s approach to cloud services in Enterprise License Agreements (ELAs) and Portfolio License Agreements (PLAs), highlight the risks associated with maintaining cloud services on separate contracts, and provide strategies for integrating them.
The goal is to help you simplify contract management, maximize your negotiating leverage, and avoid “double paying” when moving workloads to the cloud.
How Broadcom Handles Cloud Contracts Today
Does Broadcom offer unified contracts for both on-premises and cloud environments? Broadcom’s flagship agreements (often called ELAs or PLAs) are designed to bundle a broad range of software products under one contract.
In theory, a single Broadcom portfolio agreement can cover on-premises infrastructure software (such as VMware vSphere or CA mainframe tools) and cloud-based services (like VMware Cloud on AWS or Symantec’s SaaS security offerings).
Broadcom’s sales teams encourage large multi-product deals. For example, a Portfolio License Agreement might include VMware virtualization software, Symantec endpoint security (which can be delivered as a cloud service), and other tools, all priced together under a single subscription fee.
However, in practice, cloud services are often handled separately unless you negotiate otherwise. VMware Cloud on AWS, for instance, has a usage-based pricing model (since it runs on AWS infrastructure), and it was historically sold either via AWS or as a standalone subscription.
After Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware, all VMware Cloud on AWS subscriptions must be purchased through Broadcom or its authorized partners. Broadcom could simply sell this to you as a separate one-off cloud contract with its own terms.
Similarly, Symantec’s cloud SaaS products (like cloud-based web security or email security services) are sold as subscriptions per user or device, sometimes on separate order forms or smaller contracts outside the main ELA.
By default, without proactive integration, you might find your on-prem software in an ELA and your cloud services on isolated agreements.
Known models for integrating cloud:
Enterprises have a few approaches available to bring cloud services into the fold of a Broadcom ELA:
- Prepaid Cloud Credit Pools: VMware historically offered a program where you purchase cloud credits as part of an ELA (often known as a subscription purchasing program). In this model, you commit to a certain spend upfront and receive credits that can be redeemed for cloud services, such as VMware Cloud on AWS or VMware Cloud Universal offerings. This effectively treats cloud usage as a budgeted component of your ELA, rather than a separate pay-as-you-go contract. Ask Broadcom if they support a credit-based approach in your agreement – it could provide flexibility to use various cloud services under one monetary pool.
- Add-On Cloud Subscriptions in the Master Agreement: Another method is negotiating an addendum or rider to your enterprise agreement that specifically covers a cloud service. For example, you might add VMware Cloud on AWS as a line item in the ELA, with its own pricing terms but co-terminous with the rest of the agreement. Broadcom might still price it based on consumption (e.g., host capacity or a minimum commitment of cloud resources), but it would fall under the umbrella of the main contract. This way, the cloud service isn’t a completely separate deal – it’s an integrated component of your overall Broadcom relationship.
- Broadcom Unified Portfolio Deals: Broadcom’s portfolio license agreements encompass both subscription software and SaaS solutions. Many customers have PLAs that bundle VMware software (now sold as subscriptions) alongside Symantec security services. If you’re signing a new ELA/PLA post-Broadcom acquisition, you can request that any relevant cloud service be bundled. Broadcom’s default PLA terms are flexible enough to cover “software, services, or SaaS offerings” under one framework – but you must ensure these are explicitly included in your scope of products.
Importantly, Broadcom’s approach post-VMware acquisition has been to push standardized bundles (such as VMware Cloud Foundation for on-premises environments) and may expect cloud services to be addressed via those bundles or through separate commitments.
If you do nothing, you risk ending up with a fragmented situation: for example, a large ELA covering your on-premises VMware licenses and a separate contract (possibly even on different renewal dates) for your VMware Cloud on AWS pilot.
The next sections explain why that fragmentation is risky and how integrating the contracts benefits you.
How to manage licenses during cloud migrations, Managing Broadcom Licensing During Cloud Migrations – Avoiding Double Payment.
Risks of Keeping Cloud Contracts Separate
Maintaining separate contracts for Broadcom’s on-prem software and its cloud services can create several challenges and costs for your organization.
Key risks include:
- Different Renewal Cycles and No Co-Termination: If your on-prem ELA expires in 2026 but your VMware Cloud on AWS subscription renews annually on a different schedule, you’re stuck in perpetual negotiation mode. You lose the advantage of a single, big renewal where you can address everything at once. Out-of-sync renewals mean you might renew the cloud service at a premium (because you had no leverage at that moment), then later negotiate a separate on-premises deal. This fragmented timing reduces your bargaining power. It also increases administrative overhead – your team is managing multiple Broadcom renewals at different times.
- Lost Leverage and Volume Discounts: Broadcom (and previously VMware) often offers better pricing tiers or discounts based on larger committed spend. If you negotiate cloud services separately from your main agreement, you may not meet the spend thresholds that qualify for higher discount tiers. For example, a standalone contract for VMware Cloud usage might be priced at or near list price, whereas if that spend were combined with your on-prem spend in one deal, the total could qualify you for, say, a 20% discount across the board. Separate deals mean you’re leaving money on the table by not leveraging your full buying power.
- Standard Cloud Pricing without Enterprise Concessions: Cloud services sold outside the ELA might default to standard pricing models and terms. VMware Cloud on AWS, purchased separately, could come with AWS-like pricing (pay-as-you-go or 1-year commitments) and standard terms of service, which may lack the custom price protections or caps that can be negotiated in an enterprise deal. In an integrated contract, you can negotiate terms such as capped price increases or committed discounts for cloud usage. With a separate cloud contract, Broadcom might simply charge the prevailing rate and retain the right to increase rates after the term. So, you risk paying a premium and facing more uncertainty.
- Overlapping Costs (“Double Dipping”): Another hidden risk is the potential for double payment for similar capabilities. Imagine you’re paying for on-prem software licenses with maintenance, and then you start migrating workloads to VMware Cloud. If those are on separate agreements, you might continue paying maintenance on the on-prem licenses and pay again for the cloud service that includes software licensing in its cost. Without integration, there’s no mechanism to offset one against the other. You could end up paying twice for VMware software – once as part of your ELA and again embedded in the cloud subscription fee. Separate contracts offer no built-in portability of value, whereas an integrated approach can include provisions to avoid this overlap (more on that in the negotiation tactics).
- Inconsistent SLAs and Support Terms: On-premises software licenses typically come with support contracts (e.g., standard support, patches), while cloud services come with service level agreements (e.g., uptime, response times) and sometimes premium support options. If you keep them separate, you’ll have different sets of support terms. This could mean, for instance, your VMware on-prem issues are handled under one support process, but your VMware Cloud issues follow AWS’s standard SLA via Broadcom. There’s a risk that support or reliability commitments for the cloud services are not negotiated at all (using boilerplate defaults that favor the vendor). Fragmentation makes it harder to ensure you’re getting unified, enterprise-grade support across all Broadcom products.
- Fragmented Compliance and Contract Management: Each separate contract is governed by its own terms and likely managed by different Broadcom account reps or systems. You might face multiple audits or true-ups on different schedules (one for your ELA entitlements, another audit of your cloud consumption). It’s easier to lose track of entitlements and usage when they’re in silos. For example, you might carefully true-up your on-premises license counts, but then miss a detail in the cloud contract (such as how “users” or “vCPUs” are counted), leading to compliance penalties. Having a unified contract framework helps ensure consistent compliance management and a single point of negotiation if Broadcom raises any license or usage issues.
In short, separate cloud contracts can undermine the very benefits that enterprise agreements are intended to provide.
You’ll face more complexity, potentially higher costs, and less negotiating influence. Fortunately, these issues can be mitigated by integrating cloud services into your Broadcom agreements, as we discuss next.
Benefits of Integration
Bringing VMware Cloud, Symantec SaaS, and other Broadcom cloud services into your enterprise agreement offers several clear benefits:
- One Portfolio, One Renewal: The most immediate benefit is simplified contract management. All your Broadcom software, whether on-prem or cloud-based, will co-terminate on the same date. Instead of juggling multiple renewals, you have a single renewal event to plan for. This unified renewal means you can address your entire Broadcom environment strategy at once and ensure that nothing is renewed by accident (or auto-renewed) without full scrutiny. Co-termination also allows you to negotiate trade-offs holistically – for instance, you might decide to increase cloud usage and decrease on-premises usage, and handle the financial implications of that shift within a single negotiation.
- Greater Negotiating Leverage: When all spending is combined into a single, comprehensive agreement, your total contract value is higher, giving you more leverage to demand concessions. Broadcom’s sales reps have quotas and revenue targets; a consolidated deal makes you a larger customer in their eyes, often unlocking better discount bands and executive attention. You can leverage on-prem and cloud spend against each other: “We’ll commit to using VMware Cloud if you give us a better unit price on vSphere (or vice versa).” In separate deals, each smaller commitment might not be enough to make a significant impact on discounts. Integrated, you maximize volume-based incentives and can negotiate bundle discounts (for example, an extra percentage off if you include both product lines).
- Elimination of Redundant Costs: By integrating, you can structure the contract to avoid double payments when migrating workloads. For example, you could include a clause that allows you to reduce the on-premises license count or receive credit when you move a workload from on-premises to VMware Cloud, ensuring you’re not paying for two environments. The overall agreement can facilitate a more fluid licensing process across environments. This means your money is spent more efficiently: maintenance or subscription fees can be applied to whichever form of the service you’re using, whether cloud-based or on-premises. Essentially, integration allows you to pay once for the software and use it in multiple locations.
- Unified SLA and Support Structure: In an integrated deal, you can negotiate a consistent support level across all Broadcom products. You might stipulate that cloud services will come with the same enhanced support terms you negotiated for on-prem software (e.g., a named support engineer or faster response times). Additionally, suppose something like VMware Cloud on AWS has an SLA. In that case, you can ensure it’s referenced in your contract and even negotiate penalties or remedies if it’s not met – rather than accepting the default click-through SLA. The benefit is a single, unified set of service quality expectations. Your IT team will also appreciate having a single, consolidated support agreement and possibly a single Broadcom support liaison for all issues.
- Leverage of Hybrid Use and Flexibility: A unified agreement can be structured to acknowledge your hybrid cloud strategy. You might secure rights that allow you to deploy licenses either on-prem or in the cloud seamlessly. Some modern Broadcom/VMware licensing models are starting to allow portability (for example, using your VMware Cloud Foundation licenses on certified public cloud hosts). By integrating, you can explicitly bake in hybrid use rights. This gives your architects the flexibility to run workloads where it makes sense, without procurement needing to come back and negotiate a new license each time. In essence, integration can make your contract “cloud-friendly,” allowing you to pivot towards cloud usage over the term without incurring contractual pain.
- Easier Compliance and Governance: A single integrated agreement can simplify compliance tracking – you know that all usage falls under the same legal terms. Often, Broadcom’s audits or compliance checks will be less painful if you have a comprehensive deal; you can have a single true-up discussion that covers everything. From a governance perspective, your procurement and vendor management team can monitor a single, comprehensive agreement. It’s easier to report internally on “our Broadcom relationship” when it’s a single package, encompassing both on-premises licenses and cloud subscriptions. This unified view facilitates planning (e.g., forecasting spend or adjusting allocations between products) because it provides a comprehensive view at once.
In summary, integrating cloud services into your Broadcom ELA/PLA makes life simpler and can save money.
It aligns Broadcom’s interests with yours across all usage.
Next, let’s discuss how to negotiate such integration, especially if Broadcom’s default stance is to separate these concerns.
Negotiation Tactics for Integration
Vendors often prefer the status quo – in Broadcom’s case, that might mean selling you a big on-prem agreement and separately selling cloud services as needed.
To integrate them, you’ll need to employ savvy negotiation tactics:
- Insist on Co-Termination: If Broadcom won’t fully blend the contracts, at a minimum, negotiate co-terminus end dates. For example, if you start a VMware Cloud subscription midway through your ELA term, set it to expire on the same date as the ELA. This could involve a shorter initial cloud subscription or a prorated term. Co-terming ensures you can renegotiate all pieces together at renewal. It also prevents Broadcom from having perpetual one-year cloud deals that renew off-cycle (often with price hikes). Make it clear early in negotiations: any cloud service you add will align with your master agreement’s timeline.
- Link Cloud Commit to ELA Discounts: Leverage the combined spend to get better pricing. This might involve negotiating discount tiers that apply to the total of on-premises and cloud spend. For instance, if Broadcom has a volume discount structure (the more you spend, the higher the discount), ensure that your VMware Cloud usage fees count toward those thresholds. Conversely, if pricing is handled separately, negotiate an explicit discount on the cloud part in light of your overall commitment. You can say: “We’re willing to commit $X to VMware Cloud over three years, but we need a pricing concession and it to be under the ELA framework.” The key is to avoid paying “retail” for cloud services just because they are treated in isolation.
- Negotiate Cloud Terms within the Master Agreement: Cloud services come with their own unique terms (like uptime SLAs, data handling, security obligations). Don’t assume your standard ELA language automatically covers these. Explicitly include or attach the cloud service terms to your enterprise agreement. Review Broadcom’s cloud service terms (they may reference standard VMware or Symantec SaaS terms) and negotiate modifications within your contract. For instance, ensure there’s an SLA for uptime (and maybe negotiate credits if it’s not met), include data residency requirements if your industry needs it (“Broadcom will host EU customer data in EU data centers,” etc.), and usage rules (like the ability to scale up/down within certain limits). By embedding these into the ELA, you avoid the scenario where a cloud service is governed by a click-through agreement over which you had no negotiation. Treat the integrated contract as a one-stop repository for all terms – with special sections for cloud services.
- Portability and Conversion Rights: One of the most powerful tactics is to obtain rights to convert or reallocate your investment between on-premises and cloud environments. For example, negotiate a clause that if you’re not using some of your on-prem licenses, you can convert their value into cloud credits or cloud subscriptions of equivalent value. This might be structured as a one-time right (say, you can exchange up to 20% of your on-prem license allocation for VMware Cloud on AWS capacity, at predefined rates) or as a continual flexibility (“Customer may reassign licenses to VMware Cloud deployments”). Broadcom may not volunteer this, but if you articulate your cloud strategy, you can push for a license portability clause. This ensures you’re not stuck with shelfware on-prem while buying new cloud capacity; you can transition spend smoothly. It also protects you if, say, halfway through the term, your company decides to accelerate cloud migration – you won’t have wasted on-prem investment.
- Use Broadcom’s Desire for Larger Deals: Broadcom sales reps are motivated to close big multi-product deals. Use that to your advantage by saying you’re considering expanding into VMware Cloud or Symantec’s cloud services, but only if it can be part of a strategic, discounted partnership. Essentially, dangle the carrot of more spending in exchange for integrated terms. Broadcom may then come back with options, such as a larger PLA that includes cloud services or promotional pricing for bundling. Be cautious, though – if Broadcom suggests a combined bundle (for example, they might push VMware Cloud Foundation subscriptions, which conceptually allow hybrid cloud use), evaluate if it truly meets your needs or if it’s bundling things you won’t use. It’s fine to bundle, but ensure it’s aligned with your actual cloud plans.
- If You Must Separate, Keep Options Open: In some cases, you might not be able to initially include a cloud service (maybe you’re not ready to commit to usage, or Broadcom’s offer isn’t favorable). If you do sign a separate cloud deal, negotiate alignment clauses to ensure a seamless integration. For instance, a right to bring that cloud service into the ELA at a later date, or at least a “coterminous renewal” clause as mentioned. Also, secure a clause that says any future acquisition of that cloud service through Broadcom will count toward your ELA discounts or can be converted. Essentially, treat separate contracts as interim and document an intention to integrate them later. This sets the stage for revisiting integration at the next renewal.
By employing these tactics, you signal to Broadcom that you expect a holistic partnership. You also actively prevent the pitfalls of fragmented agreements.
Next, we’ll detail specific critical clauses to include in your contract to solidify these protections.
Critical Clauses to Protect Against Overspend
When negotiating an integrated Broadcom agreement that covers both on-prem and cloud services, the contract language is key.
Here are critical clauses (in plain English) you should consider including to protect your organization:
- Co-Termination Clause: “Cloud subscriptions shall be co-terminous with on-prem agreements.” – This clause ensures that any cloud service you add will end on the same date as your enterprise agreement. It prevents stray end dates and keeps your renewal leverage unified.
- Portability Clause: “Customer may convert on-prem license value into equivalent VMware Cloud credits.” – This provides the right to exchange unused or underutilized on-prem licenses for cloud service credits. It guarantees you can shift spend to the cloud without penalty if your strategy changes during the term.
- No Double Payment Clause: “Workloads moved to VMware Cloud shall not incur overlapping charges.” – This protects you from paying twice when migrating. In practice, this could mean that once you move a workload to VMware Cloud, you can correspondingly reduce your on-prem license counts (and fees), or you receive a credit for the software portion embedded in the cloud fees.
- Unified Discount/Spend Clause: “Discount tier shall apply to combined spend on cloud and on-prem.” – This ensures that volume discounts are calculated on your total Broadcom spend. If you’ve committed $10M on-premises and $2M on the cloud, the $12M should determine your discount level, not each piece separately.
- Pricing Protection: Negotiate caps on price increases for renewals or overages. For example, “Broadcom may not increase per-unit cloud subscription fees by more than 5% annually during the term”, or “Overage cloud usage will be charged at the same discounted rate as committed volume.” This clause prevents nasty surprises, especially if your cloud usage grows faster than expected.
- Service Level and Remedy Clause: For cloud services, include something like: “VMware Cloud service will maintain a minimum 99.9% uptime per month. If service levels fall below this threshold, Broadcom will provide service credits or the Customer may terminate the cloud service without penalty.” Tailor the numbers to your specific needs, but the point is to contractually ensure you have recourse if the cloud service underperforms. Don’t rely solely on the vendor’s standard SLA – reinforce it in your master agreement.
- Data Residency and Security: If your industry or company has data locality requirements, include: “Broadcom shall ensure all [Symantec SaaS] data is stored in [specified region] and comply with [XYZ security standard].” This may not directly affect the cost, but it’s critical to integrate such terms so that adopting the cloud service doesn’t create compliance issues for you. It’s easier to negotiate these upfront as part of the big deal than later as an add-on.
- Exit and Transition Assistance: Though not always offered, try to include a clause such as: “If Customer does not renew the cloud service, Broadcom will assist in data export and transition for 60 days” or “Customer may extend the cloud service for a short period coterminous with on-prem software to transition workloads.” This protects you from being “stuck” in the cloud service if things change at renewal time.
Each of these clauses fortifies your agreement against overspending or being caught off guard.
Be prepared to justify them during negotiation – for example, highlight that without a no-double-payment clause, you’d be financially penalized for adopting Broadcom’s own cloud product (a point that can resonate logically).
Once Broadcom agrees in principle, ensure that these commitments are explicitly included in the written contract. Vague promises are not enough.
Checklist – What to Demand in an Integrated Agreement
When consolidating Broadcom on-premises and cloud services into a single agreement, use this checklist to ensure you’ve covered all bases.
These are the must-haves to demand before you sign:
- Single Master Agreement Covering All Broadcom Products: Ensure the deal scope clearly lists both on-prem software licenses and specific cloud/SaaS services. There should be one contractual framework (ELA/PLA) that governs everything, even if there are addendum schedules for each service type.
- Aligned Term and Co-Termination: All included services, whether a Symantec SaaS product or VMware Cloud on AWS, should share the same end date. Eliminate any mismatched terms or auto-renewals that don’t sync with the master agreement.
- Unified Discount Structure: Confirm that the pricing exhibits apply any volume discount or rebate based on the total combined spend. If Broadcom uses tiered discount levels, your combined spend should qualify you for better pricing. Call this out explicitly in the contract or an order form.
- License Portability or Cloud Conversion Rights: Get a clause (as discussed above) that allows you to swap between on-prem and cloud usage. For example, an entitlement to convert unused on-prem license entitlements into a cloud subscription of equivalent value, or vice versa, during the term. This provides flexibility and reduces waste.
- No Overlap Charges: The agreement should state that you won’t be charged twice for the same underlying product. If you’re paying for a VMware hypervisor as part of VMware Cloud, you shouldn’t simultaneously pay for that hypervisor under your on-prem license count for those workloads. Insist on language that guarantees no double-charging.
- Documented SLAs and Support Levels: Include the cloud service’s Service Level Agreement terms in the contract and ensure they meet your needs. Also, ensure your support agreement covers cloud usage – for instance, if you have premium support, it should apply to both on-premises software issues and cloud service issues. There should be clarity on how support requests for cloud services are handled, ensuring you receive the same level of attention as with on-premises services.
- Data Protection Commitments: Especially for SaaS like Symantec’s security cloud, ensure data privacy, security, and residency requirements are appended. For example, demand that Broadcom notify you of any data breaches related to the cloud service, or that they adhere to GDPR or other relevant regulations. These terms are often in separate documents – bring them into your negotiation so they’re not overlooked.
- Audit and True-Up Process Across Both Environments: Clarify how Broadcom will audit usage and how true-ups will be implemented. Ideally, have a unified true-up at renewal that covers any over-deployment of on-premises licenses and any overuse of cloud resources beyond subscribed amounts. This way, you handle compliance in one go, and you can negotiate any overage costs with full context.
Having this checklist in hand during negotiations ensures you don’t accidentally accept an integrated deal that still has gaps.
If Broadcom pushes back on any item, ask why – and remember that everything is negotiable, especially if you’re bringing significant spend to the table.
FAQs
Q: Can VMware Cloud (e.g., VMware Cloud on AWS) be added to a Broadcom ELA?
A: Yes, you can include VMware Cloud services in a Broadcom ELA, but it won’t happen automatically – you have to negotiate it. Broadcom will generally let you add VMware Cloud on AWS as part of a portfolio agreement if you commit to a certain consumption level or purchase credits for it. The key is to raise this during the negotiation of the ELA. Request that VMware Cloud be listed as a service in the contract, potentially with a pre-agreed commitment (e.g., a specific number of hosts or a predetermined dollar amount of credits over the term). By doing so, you lock in pricing and ensure it co-terminates with the rest of your agreement. If you already have an ELA and later decide you need VMware Cloud, you can negotiate an addendum to incorporate it. In short, it’s definitely possible – many customers are doing it – but it requires proactive inclusion and sometimes a commitment of spend to get Broadcom’s attention.
Q: What are the risks of keeping cloud contracts separate from our main Broadcom agreement?
A: The risks include losing negotiation leverage and potentially overpaying. With separate contracts, you have different renewal dates, meaning you can’t leverage your full Broadcom spend at once. You might pay closer to the list price for a standalone cloud service, whereas a bundled deal could give you a discount. Another risk is administrative: separate contracts are easier to forget or mismanage, possibly auto-renewing on unfavorable terms. There’s also the risk of duplicative costs – for instance, paying maintenance for on-prem licenses and also paying for cloud subscriptions covering the same software. And don’t overlook compliance and legal differences: a separate cloud contract might have terms (like indemnification or data usage policies) that differ from your ELA, which could introduce legal risks or obligations you didn’t negotiate. In essence, fragmentation can result in financial losses, wasted time, and even legal exposure.
Q: If we integrate a cloud service into our ELA, do we still need separate SLA documents or contracts for it?
A: You shouldn’t need a separate contract; instead, the cloud service’s terms (including the SLA) should be incorporated into your ELA. When negotiating, ensure that the service description and SLA for the cloud offering are attached as an exhibit or included in the contract language. This way, your rights (such as uptime guarantees or support response commitments) are clearly outlined within the integrated agreement. You may have a separate technical document outlining the SLA, but it will be referenced by and governed under your main contract. The idea is to avoid having a completely separate click-through agreement for the cloud portion. By integrating, you consolidate it. You still absolutely need the SLA terms defined – integration doesn’t mean assuming on-prem support terms cover it (they don’t, because cloud is different). Therefore, include the SLA within the ELA. No separate, standalone contract should be necessary once the integration is complete.
Q: Can I convert on-prem license spend into cloud credits during the term?
A: This is possible if you negotiate it up front. Many enterprises negotiate a conversion or “cloud portability” clause that allows them to repurpose a portion of their on-prem investment for cloud use. For example, you might have a clause that says you can convert, say, 20% of your unused on-prem licenses into VMware Cloud on AWS credits in the second year of the term. Without such a clause, you’d generally be stuck – licenses and cloud subscriptions are not interchangeable by default. Broadcom does have programs (for example, VMware had Cloud Universal credits) intended to facilitate moving to the cloud, but you need to bake those terms into your deal. Suppose you missed the opportunity to do so at signing. In that case, you can still approach Broadcom during the term and request an amendment for some conversion, especially if your strategy changes (Broadcom would rather retain you as a cloud customer than lose you). However, your leverage is highest before you sign. So yes, you can convert on-prem spend to cloud usage, but only with explicit contract terms or Broadcom’s agreement – it’s not an automatic right.
Q: Do integrated agreements cover Symantec (Broadcom) SaaS products as well?
A: They can and arguably should. Broadcom’s portfolio license agreements are meant to cover multiple product lines, and that includes Symantec’s cloud-based security services (which Broadcom now owns). If you use Symantec SaaS offerings (such as CloudSOC, Web Security Service, and Endpoint Security cloud management), you can negotiate to include them in your enterprise deal. The agreement would then list those services, likely with user counts or usage metrics, under the same term and pricing structure. Broadcom might propose a bundle of security products, mixing on-prem components with SaaS components, all in one license pool for a flat fee. As a customer, ensure the SaaS is not left out. An integrated agreement can encompass everything from mainframe software to SaaS if structured properly. The benefits are the same – one renewal, combined volume for discounts, and unified terms. So yes, ask to have any Symantec SaaS you plan to use (or are already using) rolled into the ELA. Just be mindful to include relevant SLA and data protection terms for those SaaS in your contract as noted.
5 Actionable Integration Tips
To wrap up, here are five concrete tips you can apply when trying to integrate Broadcom cloud services into your enterprise agreements:
- Always Align Renewal Dates: Ensure that cloud services renew on the same cycle. Either time, new cloud purchases to end with your ELA or negotiate coterminous terms. This alignment preserves your negotiation power and simplifies management.
- Bundle Cloud Spend for Discounts: Treat cloud usage as part of your overall Broadcom spend. When negotiating, explicitly combine the dollars. For instance, negotiate a deal that says “On-prem + VMware Cloud combined = $X total” and push for a bulk discount on that entire amount. Vendors respond to larger commitments.
- Negotiate License Portability to Cloud: Secure contractual rights to convert or reuse on-prem licenses in the cloud. This could be a formal “conversion credit” clause or simply flexibility to decrease on-prem licenses proportionally to cloud adoption. It ensures you won’t pay for the same capability twice during migration.
- Insist on a Written Cloud SLA and Data Terms: Don’t integrate blindly – ensure the agreement includes the service levels, support process, and data governance for the cloud service. Get it in writing that, for example, you require 99.9% uptime and that your data will reside in specified locations. This holds Broadcom accountable across the board.
- Prevent Double Payment When Migrating: During negotiations, discuss scenarios (such as migrating 100 VMs to VMware Cloud) and obtain Broadcom’s commitment that you won’t be double-billed. This might be through the no-double-charge clause or a promise of credits. By addressing this upfront, you not only save money but also encourage Broadcom to work with you on cloud adoption rather than penalize you for it.
By following these actionable tips, you’ll be well on your way to crafting a Broadcom enterprise agreement that seamlessly spans on-prem and cloud services.
The result should be a more streamlined, cost-effective, and future-proof contract – one that lets you take advantage of VMware Cloud, Symantec SaaS, and other Broadcom offerings without the headache of fragmented agreements.
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