VMware Perpetual License Holder Receives Audit Letter From Broadcom

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: After sending cease-and-desist letters to VMware users whose support contracts had expired and who subsequently declined to subscribe to one of Broadcom's VMware bundles, Broadcom has started the process of conducting audits on former VMware customers. Ars Technica reviewed a letter that a software provider and VMware user in the Netherlands received that is dated June 20 and informs the firm that it 'has been selected for a formal audit of its use of VMware software and support services' [PDF]. The security professional who provided Ars with the letter asked to keep their name and their employers' name anonymous out of privacy concerns.

The anonymous employee told Ars that their company had been a VMware customer for 'about' a decade before deciding not to sign up for a new contract with Broadcom's VMware a year ago. The company had been using VMware Cloud Foundation and vSphere. 'Our CEO decided to not extend the support contract because of the costs,' the employee said. 'This already impacts us security-wise because we can no longer get updates (unless the CVSS score is critical).' The letter notes that an auditing firm, Connor Consulting, which is headquartered in San Francisco and has offices around the globe, will perform a review of the company's 'VMware deployment and entitlements, which may include fieldwork or remote testing and meetings with members of your accounting, licensing, and management information systems functions.' The letter informs its recipient that someone from Connor will reach out and that the VMware user should respond within three business days.

The letter, signed by Aiden Fitzgerald, director of global sales operations at Broadcom, claims that Broadcom will use its time 'as efficiently and productively as possible to minimize disruption.' Still, the security worker that Ars spoke with is concerned about the implications of the audit and said they 'expect a big financial impact' for their employer. They added: 'Because we are focusing on saving costs and are on a pretty tight financial budget, this will likely have impact on the salary negotiations or even layoffs of employees. Currently, we have some very stressed IT managers [and] legal department [employees]...' The employee noted that they are unsure if their employer exceeded its license limits. If the firm did, it could face 'big' financial repercussions, the worker noted.

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