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Nationwide bets on VCF as Broadcom responds to Tesco
Nationwide extends its VCF contract with Broadcom. Meanwhile, in the Tesco legal case, Broadcom disputes that VMware is a dominant software platform
Nationwide Building Society has extended its contract with Broadcom covering VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF). The virtualisation platform forms the foundation for a fully integrated, enterprise-grade private cloud platform. Nationwide said the Broadcom software helps it to deliver more secure, resilient and scalable digital services, while supporting coordination and integration across the organisation following its acquisition of Virgin Money.
The decision to extend its VMware contract comes at a time when some companies are seeing substantial price increases in the cost of licensing and of ongoing support for the virtualisation platform. In fact, some companies such as Tesco – which has a contract dispute with Broadcom, VMware and its reseller, Computacenter – are moving off VMware to alternative virtualisation platform providers (see Broadcom responds to Tesco box).
VMware Cloud Foundation is a unified, private cloud platform with integrated, compute, storage, networking, management and security, with automation and intelligent operations. For Nationwide, this provides a standardised foundation for running traditional, cloud native and eventually AI applications, while maintaining performance, governance and compliance requirements.
Nationwide said the extension of the agreement is part of its plans to build a modern private cloud that balances agility with operational control. “Our extended partnership with Broadcom represents a significant step forward in our technology strategy,” said Paul Walsh, director of infrastructure and service delivery at Nationwide.
“As we continue to evolve as a business, including integrating Virgin Money into the group, it is vital that we have a resilient, scalable and secure technology foundation. A private cloud built on VMware Cloud Foundation enables us to simplify operations, accelerate innovation and deliver seamless digital experiences for our members, while maintaining the trust and stability that define the Nationwide brand.”
Discussing the contract extension, Joe Baguley, EMEA chief technology officer (CTO) of Broadcom, said: “Nationwide is taking a deliberate and strategic approach to private cloud that balances agility with control and innovation with resilience. By extending our partnership and adopting VMware Cloud Foundation as a consistent platform across the group, Nationwide will be able to integrate operations more efficiently, accelerate service delivery and reduce operational complexity, while maintaining the security and governance expected of a leading UK financial services brand.”
Broadcom responds to Tesco
The legal case Tesco has brought against VMware and Broadcom shows the challenges some companies are facing as they look at migrating to an alternative hypervisor for server virtualisation. In a recent legal filing, the retailer said that the timeframe of the migration has created operational and commercial risk, as well as resulting in “material cost and disruption to the business”.
Tesco has claimed that VMware’s dominant market position means there is no direct alternative server virtualisation platforms that have the integration with some of third-party software it uses, such as Veeam backup and Zerto’s data security.
In Tesco’s complaint, the retailer also said that it was being offered product bundles rather than individual software products when it tried to renew its VMware contract with Broadcom.
In Broadcom’s response to these allegations, the company said it has been prepared to propose to Tesco licensing arrangements on a product-by-product basis, without any obligation for Tesco to purchase all products together as part of a strategic proposal.
It also disputes Tesco’s claim that VMware has a dominant market position, since the Tesco filing shows that the retailer has already begun work to migrate to alternative suppliers.
