CISPE (Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers Europe) sounds the alarm: The Broadcom acquisition of VMware threatens the existence of European cloud providers. The VCSP program has been shut down, critical partnerships terminated.
"Death Sentence" for EU Cloud Landscape
CISPE representatives speak of a "death sentence" for European cloud sovereignty. Broadcom has implemented fundamental changes:
- VCSP program: Completely discontinued
- Partner tier system: Drastically reduced
- Licensing model: Price increases of up to 300%
- Support: Only for premium partners
European Dependency Intensifies
Many EU cloud providers based their business models on VMware technology. The new terms make these models unprofitable or impossible.
Mid-sized cloud providers are particularly affected, those who could offer local data protection requirements and GDPR compliance. Their customers are now being pushed toward American hyperscalers.
CISPE calls for EU intervention and alternative virtualization solutions. Open-source alternatives like KVM and Proxmox are experiencing a surge but cannot replace VMware dependency in the short term.
The situation underscores Europe's critical dependency on US technology infrastructure and the challenges in building digital sovereignty.
Source: The Register 19.03.2026