IBM offloads 'hundreds' of its cloudy VMware customers

Broadcom has acquired the cloud division of IBM, including the VMware customers it had sold hundreds of to 11:11 Systems. Broadcom's new partner program now focuses on partners that exclusively support its Cloud Foundation (VCF) private cloud stack. As a result, former VMware partners are left with the option to either migrate to 11:11 Systems' VMware cloud or sell their contracts to other Broadcom partners.

11:11 CEO Brett Diamond believes that the acquired customers, who use VCF versions 7 and 8, are ideal candidates for migration. Diamond's company has data centers in 40 to 50 locations and a migration strategy for the newly acquired customers. These customers, which include large multinationals and Fortune 500 companies, are confident in their decision to stick with VMware.

The acquisition allows 11:11 to expand its range of services by integrating them into a custom console that collaborates with 50 other tools. Broadcom's decision to discontinue its partnership with IBM was likely due to the fact that Red Hat OpenShift, a competitor of VMware, is now a stronger offering from Broadcom after recent improvements.