- 11:11 Systems is snapping up “hundreds” of VMware customers from IBM as Broadcom’s VMware partner shake-up continues to reshape the market
- The deal expands 11:11’s VMware footprint across North America, EMEA, APAC and South America
- 11:11 is betting VMware Cloud Foundation still has legs
IBM was once an all-star VMware partner, but new kid on the block 11:11 Systems is consolidating power – and customers – as Broadcom slims down its partner ecosystem.
11:11 Chief Revenue Officer Dante Orsini told Fierce it has just acquired “hundreds” of VMware customers from IBM as part of a massive deal what will see it expand its footprint further across North America, EMEA, APAC and South America. He noted the deal is 11:11’s eighth VMware-based acquisition.
“Broadcom’s been making a lot of changes to really streamline the number of providers that are working with them, both on the service provider side and the traditional resale side. So we’re squarely in the middle of that consolidation,” Orsini said.
He added 11:11’s experience working with mid-market and global enterprise clients either in or associated with regulated industries “makes us a natural target for not just providers but for customers that are looking to continue to leverage that platform going forward.”
Founded in 2020, 11:11 is a managed infrastructure services provider offering cloud, security, disaster recovery and connectivity products. While it doesn’t run its own data centers, it sources space and power in colocation facilities and owns and operates the hardware within.
What’s the deal with VMware these days?
When Broadcom acquired VMware in December 2023, it immediately revamped its partner programs and changed its licensing scheme, prompting some to look for other options. Eventually, key partners like IBM decided to stop selling VMware. Many analysts and enterprises expressed concern about the future of the platform and its customers, especially in the wake of Broadcom’s moves to streamline its VMware assets.
But Orsini said 11:11 doesn’t share those worries.
He pointed out that as security concerns spread across the enterprise space with the debut of Mythos, Broadcom was one of the first companies to partner with Anthropic to harden its platforms against AI threats via Project Glasswing. Keith Coker, 11:11’s COO, told Fierce that move put Broadcom “at the forefront of probably one of the most critical issues the industry has, which is how to defend against security threats from new frontier AI models.”
Orsini also pointed out that around 17% of Broadcom’s revenue goes to research and development (though it’s not clear how much of that goes into VMware specifically).
“One of the reasons we’re excited about VCF [VMware Cloud Foundation] is it’s also a broader platform,” Orsini said. “We’re talking about managing not just virtual machines, but we’re also managing containers, being able to manage GPUs and private AI workloads.”
That last bit matters. Orsini said many organizations who run their own data center facilities are looking for a change as hardware costs and complexity rise. But given they’re running critical workloads, they need stability and a partner to de-risk that transition to a hosted model.
In terms of where it goes from here, Coker said that while organic growth is definitely a priority, it does plan to continue to be acquisitive going forward.
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