“My point was that although it is not easy, cheap, or quick to migrate off VMware, Defendants’ high fees will incentivize us to migrate to another solution,” the affidavit reads.
Johnson also claimed that AT&T started exploring options for getting off VMware in December but thought that it had time to make decisions, since it believed it could opt to renew support for its licenses until September 2026.
In another legal filing from September 27 [PDF], Gordon Mansfield, president of global technology planning at AT&T Services, says:
AT&T currently estimates it will take a period of years to transition all of its servers currently operating with the VMware software away from VMware. Moreover, Defendants have not made it easy to do so since we understand that they are preventing some vendors from selling certain products to us.
The filing didn’t get into further detail about how exactly Broadcom could be blocking product sales to AT&T. Broadcom hasn’t publicly responded to Mansfield’s claim.
Regarding AT&T’s lawsuit, Broadcom has previously told Ars Technica that it “strongly disagrees with the allegations and is confident we will prevail in the legal process.”
Since Broadcom’s VMware acquisition, most customers are expected to have at least considered ditching VMware. However, moving can be challenging and costly as some IT environments are heavily dependent on VMware. Being able to ensure that things are able to run as expected during the transition period has also complicated potential migrations.
While AT&T and Broadcom’s legal dispute continues, Broadcom has agreed to continue providing AT&T with VMware support until October 9. A preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for October 15.