Tesco moving 40,000 server workloads off VMware amid Broadcom’s “abusive conduct”

乐购（Tesco）因博通（Broadcom）的“滥用行为”，正将 40,000 个服务器工作负载从 VMware 迁移出去

Tesco, a retail conglomerate headquartered in the United Kingdom, is moving 40,000 server workloads off of VMware amid “abusive conduct” from Broadcom, recent legal filings claim. Tesco filed a lawsuit in the UK’s High Court against Broadcom alleging breach of contract last year. 总部位于英国的零售巨头乐购（Tesco）近期提交的法律文件显示，由于博通（Broadcom）存在“滥用行为”，乐购正将其 40,000 个服务器工作负载从 VMware 迁移出去。去年，乐购已向英国高等法院提起诉讼，指控博通违约。

According to a September report from The Register, the lawsuit claimed that in January 2021, Tesco bought perpetual licenses for VMware’s vSphere Foundation and Cloud Foundation, a subscription to VMware Tanzu, plus support services until 2026, with the option to extend support for four additional years. 据《The Register》9 月份的报道，诉讼称乐购在 2021 年 1 月购买了 VMware 的 vSphere Foundation 和 Cloud Foundation 的永久许可证、VMware Tanzu 的订阅服务，以及有效期至 2026 年的支持服务，并拥有额外延长四年支持服务的选择权。

But when Broadcom took over VMware in November 2023, it would not honor the deal and instead tried to get Tesco to pay “excessive and inflated prices for virtualization software for which Tesco has already paid” and would not allow it to buy support services for its perpetually licensed software without buying “duplicative subscription-based licenses for those same Software products,” the initial complaint read, The Register reported at the time. 但据《The Register》当时的报道，最初的诉状显示，当博通在 2023 年 11 月收购 VMware 后，并未履行该协议，反而试图让乐购为“乐购已经支付过费用的虚拟化软件支付过高且虚高的价格”，并且在不购买“针对相同软件产品的重复订阅许可证”的情况下，不允许其为永久授权软件购买支持服务。

Tesco, which reported 73.7 billion pounds (about $98.7 billion) in revenue in its fiscal year 2026, has since started migrating away from VMware and Broadcom’s mainframe products, according to late-May court filings reported on by The Register today. In January, Broadcom stopped supporting Tesco’s VMware products, Tesco said, and Tesco has been paying for third-party support since. In its initial filing, Tesco also said that Broadcom refused to upgrade software or provide all security updates to customers without subscriptions. 据《The Register》今日报道的 5 月下旬法庭文件显示，乐购在 2026 财年的营收为 737 亿英镑（约合 987 亿美元），此后已开始从 VMware 和博通的大型机产品中迁移。乐购表示，博通在 1 月份停止了对乐购 VMware 产品的支持，此后乐购一直支付第三方支持费用。在最初的诉状中，乐购还称博通拒绝为没有订阅服务的客户升级软件或提供所有安全更新。

One of Tesco’s recent filings, per The Register, reads: Faced with Broadcom’s abusive conduct, and given the criticality of virtualization and mainframe software and services to its business, Tesco has been forced to incur material costs to procure alternative solutions with reduced functionality, and to migrate to that software in a manner, and on a timeframe, that creates very significant risks to its business. 据《The Register》报道，乐购最近的一份法庭文件写道：“面对博通的滥用行为，考虑到虚拟化和大型机软件及服务对其业务的重要性，乐购被迫承担巨额成本以采购功能缩水的替代方案，并以一种对业务造成重大风险的方式和时间表迁移到该软件。”

If it works “at exceptional pace,” Tesco will be completely off VMware by the end of 2027 at the earliest. However, “the timeframe in which that migration must be undertaken has created and continues to create operational and commercial risk, and at material ongoing cost and disruption to the business,” Tesco reportedly noted. Tesco is also dealing with migration challenges related to data security because its new, unnamed virtualization software is incompatible with the Veeam and Zerto products it uses. 如果以“极快的速度”推进，乐购最早也要到 2027 年底才能完全脱离 VMware。然而，据报道乐购指出，“必须进行迁移的时间表已经并将继续造成运营和商业风险，并给业务带来持续的重大成本和干扰。”乐购还面临与数据安全相关的迁移挑战，因为其新的、未具名的虚拟化软件与所使用的 Veeam 和 Zerto 产品不兼容。

“Manifestly unfair and excessive” price hike

“明显不公平且过高”的涨价

Tesco initially requested at least 100 million pounds (about $133.6 million) in damages each from Broadcom, VMware, and reseller Computacenter, plus interest. In its recent filings, Tesco said it turned down at least four offers from Broadcom to continue using VMware and Broadcom’s mainframe tech. One offer charged $23.5 million (about 17.6 million pounds) for VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 and mainframe software and support services for a year, The Register reported. 乐购最初要求博通、VMware 和经销商 Computacenter 分别赔偿至少 1 亿英镑（约合 1.336 亿美元）的损失，外加利息。在最近的文件中，乐购表示拒绝了博通至少四次关于继续使用 VMware 和博通大型机技术的提议。据《The Register》报道，其中一份报价要求为 VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 以及大型机软件和支持服务支付一年 2350 万美元（约合 1760 万英镑）的费用。

Tesco said that was “around 175 percent” more expensive than what it believes it should have had to pay for VMware and a 350 percent price hike for the mainframe offerings. The prices were “manifestly unfair and excessive,” one of Tesco’s filings said, according to The Register. In an amended defense, Broadcom denied that the price hike was unfair, The Register reported. Additionally, Broadcom argued that it shouldn’t have to pay damages in relation to Tesco struggling to find VMware and Broadcom alternatives before Tesco’s support expired, as the retail firm has since found replacement products. 乐购表示，这比它认为应该支付的 VMware 费用高出“约 175%”，大型机产品的价格则上涨了 350%。据《The Register》报道，乐购的一份文件称这些价格“明显不公平且过高”。据报道，博通在修订后的辩护书中否认涨价是不公平的。此外，博通辩称，它不应为乐购在支持服务到期前难以找到 VMware 和博通的替代品而支付赔偿金，因为该零售公司此后已经找到了替代产品。

The case is expected to go to court between November 1, 2027, and February 25, 2028, The Register reported. Afterward, it could go to trial. Although the companies will continue their dispute in UK courts, the disagreement mirrors frustrations that VMware customers and partners around the world have expressed since Broadcom bought VMware. 据《The Register》报道，该案件预计将于 2027 年 11 月 1 日至 2028 年 2 月 25 日期间开庭。此后，案件可能会进入审判阶段。尽管双方将继续在英国法院进行争端，但这种分歧反映了自博通收购 VMware 以来，全球 VMware 客户和合作伙伴所表达的挫败感。

With users often being heavily dependent on VMware products, many have delayed or avoided migration or are only moving some workloads, due to complications around cost, time, support, and compatibility. Still, virtualization rivals, like Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Nutanix, have been making aggressive pushes to attract disgruntled VMware users. 由于用户通常高度依赖 VMware 产品，许多用户因成本、时间、支持和兼容性方面的复杂问题而推迟或避免迁移，或者仅迁移部分工作负载。尽管如此，惠普企业（HPE）和 Nutanix 等虚拟化竞争对手一直在积极推动，以吸引不满的 VMware 用户。

Simultaneously, Broadcom has stuck to its VMware strategy and has reported financial success, especially among its target of large enterprises. It has also dealt with other public legal disputes with large customers, including AT&T, with which it reached an undisclosed settlement, and Siemens, which Broadcom accused of software pirating in an ongoing case in the US District Court for the District of Delaware. 与此同时，博通坚持其 VMware 战略，并报告了财务上的成功，特别是在其目标大型企业客户中。它还处理了与其他大客户的公开法律纠纷，包括与 AT&T 达成了未公开的协议，以及在特拉华州美国地方法院正在进行的案件中，博通指控西门子（Siemens）软件盗版。