Employees fear Broadcom may want to divest its end-user computing business after acquiring VMware. Also carbon black would fly out the door.

VMware employees worry that acquisition candidate Broadcom has no interest in end-user computing and carbon black businesses. They are based on internal restructuring and an almost unbridgeable culture gap. The speculation comes on top of many other negative signals surrounding the acquisition, which has met with little enthusiasm from VMware employees and customers. With questions from regulators too, the acquisition is still under investigation.

Broadcom has shown in the past that it doesn’t shy away from picking up the hatchet after acquisitions. Just ask Symantec’s cyber security services division, which was sold on to Accenture, or Veracode, which ended up with another investment firm after it acquired CA Technologies.

Independent structure

In this case, VMware employees see concrete signs. The internal restructuring of the end-user computing division (EUC) is striking. Small changes in management have ensured that EUC is now run by EUC employees. Previously, the division was managed by VMware and was more integrated. This makes the department much more independent, which may facilitate a future spin-off.

Culture is also an issue. EUC is responsible for Horizon and Workspace One within VMware. These solutions offer employees flexibility in a hybrid work context. Broadcom does not support this. In fact, the company is among the few tech players to resolutely revert to office duty in the wake of the pandemic.

carbon black

The Carbon Black folks are also anticipating a spin-off, although that wouldn’t be such a bad thing for them. Broadcom already has the necessary security knowledge on board due to the earlier acquisition of Symantec. Layoffs therefore seem inevitable.

Carbon Black itself only lives under the VMware branch for a few years. The integration of the security specialist into the overall company was slower than expected and certainly seems to have stagnated lately. Thus, carbon black is also a useful component that needs to be disposed of.

In anticipation of the takeover, the rumor model continues to run strong. The question is whether the acquisition will actually happen as international and European regulators are not fans of it.