Since launching earlier this year, VMware’s Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0 has made waves among enterprise IT teams for its efficiency-boosting additions. These benefits include a more streamlined subscription model, an enhanced services layer, and greater flexibility across on-premises, as well as hosted and public cloud deployments.

VMware continues to evolve, especially in how it manages licenses under its partnership with Broadcom’s new partner program. With these nuances, it’s critical for businesses today to ensure they have the right teams and relationships in place to ensure uninterrupted access to expertise and support for their VMware environments.

For business and IT leaders assessing their current VMware partner or seeking a new one, here are three key areas to consider.

Business model

Business and IT leaders should first consider how their business primarily consumes VMware licenses. Whether the agreement covers proprietary cloud operations, services the business resells, or a combination of needs, it’s important to understand a potential VMware Cloud Service Provider’s (VCSP) capability for helping the business transition to VCF 9.0 without interruption.

Delaying the switch can create rushed migrations, causing inefficiency and additional spending to fix potential errors.

It is increasingly important for organizations to evaluate how subscription portability, cost optimization, and migration support are addressed by their chosen partner, as these factors have become central in the current VMware landscape.

The right partner should be able to adapt to the business model – either working closely to assess and optimize the ideal hosting environment or empowering the business as a reseller to streamline its clients’ cloud migrations. This partner should also deliver accelerated time-to-market through VCF workload deployment automation, ensuring no time is wasted during the transition.

Workload locations

Selecting a cloud partner that aligns with the business’s complete footprint is critical. Before selecting a partner, business and IT leaders should seek to understand the following:

• Are workloads exclusively U.S.-based, or does the business have international locations?
• In those regions, do the business teams own the hardware?
• Do they own the facilities or do they use colocation services?

Understanding and communicating these details can help clarify the choice between one VCSP versus another. As the partner develops a transition plan, it’ll need to account for the business’s location strategy and any compliance hurdles it creates.

Given the evolution of VMware’s platform, organizations may want to consider partners with experience in hybrid-cloud architectures and operational continuity, ensuring flexibility and resilience for deployments across multiple regions.

As businesses launch a search, the potential partner’s reach will say a lot about whether they’re a good fit. Businesses should select a partner with teams that can tailor deployments locally and with data centers near operations. This ensures greater resiliency and faster scalability.

Licensing terms

Dollars and cents are key criteria. Ideally, businesses should seek a partner that not only matches their existing service levels but can also help implement their roadmap at greater value. Business and IT leaders should consider whether their current terms still meet their growth needs. It is important to evaluate how many cores are licensed and whether there are any VCF add-on solutions or other tools within the ecosystem that must be compatible with the VMware deployment.

The ideal partner will understand the business’s trajectory and be able to quickly scale core licenses as needed, without imposing significant price increases. The technology stack should also be a priority whether connecting desktop-as-a-service, backup-as-a-service, or AI/ML tools, the partner should have the capability to integrate these technologies seamlessly.

Recent changes in VMware’s licensing and partner programs have placed greater emphasis on cost optimization, scalability, and compatibility with emerging technologies. Organizations should review their agreements to ensure alignment with these priorities.

Unlock the full potential of VCF 9.0

VCF 9.0’s upgrades are a game-changer for IT teams who may otherwise be stretched thin. Beyond eliminating administrative complexity, the platform introduces simplified subscriptions that make it easier to access the latest features and scale environments as needs evolve, freeing IT teams to focus on innovation rather than paperwork.

Its robust services layer unifies management for virtual machines, containers, and AI workloads, while delivering built-in automation, improved security, and advanced storage capabilities like NVMe tiering and global deduplication. These features drive efficiency and performance at scale.

Most importantly, VCF 9.0 creates a foundation for strategic growth. Businesses can accelerate digital transformation, support new workloads, and respond quickly to market opportunities. With flexibility across on-premises, hosted, and public cloud deployments, organizations can align IT strategy with business goals and future-proof their operations.

Partner for strategic growth

VMware’s new VCF 9.0 is ushering in a wide array of opportunities for businesses to accelerate their operations and gain a significant competitive advantage in the marketplace. However, without the right partner, these businesses may not realize VCF 9.0’s full potential.

To avoid service interruptions and ensure their selected partner enables long-term growth, businesses should focus on determining the right VCSP. This partner won’t just meet businesses where they are. They’ll look for ways to proactively support their continued growth.

As organizations evaluate their options, focusing on transition support, compliance, and long-term scalability will be key to realizing the benefits of the latest VMware advancements.