Ingram assured stakeholders that this shift is "not material" to its business, emphasizing its focus on broader vendor and customer relationships. However, the decision poses challenges for Broadcom, which has been channel-reliant following its VMware acquisition. Reports suggest Ingram faced difficulties managing VMware’s pre-acquisition service standards, leading to customer dissatisfaction.

The move follows a turbulent year for VMware's channel strategy under Broadcom, including a partner program overhaul and restrictions on smaller resellers. Partners reliant on Ingram will now need to establish alternative distribution partnerships quickly to ensure continuity.

Broadcom cancelled its partner program and created a new one that excluded some existing partners. Some of those partners ran small VMware-powered clouds, and faced being unable to secure licenses â" meaning their customers would have faced unwelcome disruption. Broadcom hastily created a scheme under which small resellers outside its cloud partner program could acquire licenses from bigger players. Another change to Broadcom's plans saw it cordon off 2,000

VMware customers to work with directly, rendering them off limits to its channel. It then diluted that decision by deciding it would work directly with only 500 VMware users.