Thread regarding VMware layoffs

Sun Microsystems story parallels VMware

Sun was once a great company, they had a 30 year run. The management team ran the company into the ground, bloated costs and poor decisions. Finally it got sold for cheap to Oracle. Today, most servers are Linux or in the cloud, nobody cares about Sun. Their best assets were people, some of whom went on to do great things.

VMware will end up the same way. Didn't even get to 30 years, 20 years and they were sold at a big discount to their peak price, to Broadcom. Most workloads will move to public clouds. Very few customers will use ESX in 10 years. No one will care about the other products the company had, eg NSX, Tanzu. They will dissolve into oblivion.

The graveyard of once good tech names - DEC, Sun, Blackberry, CA, Symantec, VMware.

by Anonymous
| 2032 views | | 8 replies (last July 29, 2022) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+1hWmaQB1
Comment! It's anonymous!

8 replies (most recent on top)

Inside 4 wall view vs market reality in both cases. Both missed key strategic shifts in the market and paid the price (commodity servers, shift to the cloud). Arrogance and hubris led them both to the legacy position they ended up in. It happens.

by Anonymous
| | Reply
Post ID: @1apa+1hWmaQB1

I agree mr. Ponytail ran it into the ground. Give the software away for free - initial layoff of the companies best engineers only to hire them back again because of the backlash within the company ranks. Leaders got there money and ran. I see similarities.

by Anonymous
| | Reply
Post ID: @1kaq+1hWmaQB1

Not to mention SGI!

by Anonymous
| | Reply
Post ID: @1mpc+1hWmaQB1

The 2B$ settlement from M$ for anti-competitive BS - re:Java/.Net Office/Staroffice

13 days of cash flow for M$.

Justice. Not.

How different the world would be if M$ was split into an OS/Apps company.

Imagine an Open API to Windows - they would have had to create if the Apps spin off company wanted to create/update office - and open the door to competition.

Sorry. Remember that when you're shocked at how M$ behaves.

by Anonymous
| | Reply
Post ID: @gff+1hWmaQB1

I too moved from Sun to VMware. Another CA company driven by snowflakes into the ground. DEI or similar at all costs. Remember the BOB program, the Best of Best. Hardly. Mostly/Entirely Diversity candidates with little to no skills. White guilt from the leadership is all I saw.

So many things like VDI/Java/Zones that were ahead of it's time. My summation is that took on too many fronts/enemies at once. Chips/OS/dev environments , storage... (staroffice remember that!) - engaged on too many fronts against too many competitors.

And the schwartz was the icing on the cake to torpedo the whole thing. I really dislike that guy.

by Anonymous
| | Reply
Post ID: @jqo+1hWmaQB1

1000% True

by The Hock and Tans
| | Reply
Post ID: @dgr+1hWmaQB1

I moved from working at Sun to working with VMW in 2000…your observation is spot on.

by Anonymous
| | Reply
Post ID: @vtk+1hWmaQB1

Sad but true

by Anonymous
| | Reply
Post ID: @nab+1hWmaQB1

Post a reply

: