MSP Reaction

Steve Lewis is the CEO of MSP 501-recognized firm Dataprise. He linked the VMware acquisition to CA Technologies (2018) and Symantec (2019) as “mega” deals done in an effort to help Broadcom move up the stack.

Lewis questioned the synergy that exists between Broadcom and VMWare.

“Honestly I don’t see it, and there’s certainly no value of the combination to any strategic or channel partner that’s immediately obvious to me,” Lewis told Channel Futures.

He also added that any immediate benefits for VMware are hard to see.

“From Broadcom’s other relevant [portfolio companies] maybe, but to the degree that there is value in VMWare partnering there, they’re already doing so. So incremental benefit of the Broadcom angle? Nothing obvious,” he said.

Lewis also touched on Broadcom’s motivations.

“Is there rationale for Broadcom more broadly?  Maybe as it moves them out of the semiconductor stack into software and, perhaps more importantly, into a major recurring revenue stream. But is that really accretive to the Broadcom shareholders?  I leave that to Wall St. to determine.”