Understanding IBM software currency policy
End of Marketing: As of 31 October 2025, new deployments of VMware Solutions offerings are no longer available for new customers. Existing customers can still use and expand their active VMware® workloads on IBM Cloud®. For more information, see End of Marketing for VMware on IBM Cloud.
Review the following policies to understand how IBM® maintains software currency for VMware® by Broadcom and third-party software.
IBM defines a major release as the first update level after a VMware major release (for example, 8.0u1) with the following exceptions:
- Third-party certifications on a new release. For example, IBM does not certify that Zerto works on VMware vSphere ESXi™ 8.0u1.
- IBM code freeze windows.
| VMware vSphere and VMware Cloud Director releases | Target |
|---|---|
| Major releases (for example, 7.x) | Up to 9 months |
| Minor releases (for example, 7.1.x) | Up to 4 months |
| Patches, hotfixes, and maintenance packs | Up to 45 days |
| Day zero uses (IBM security policy) | Within 5 days |
| Third-party releases | Target |
|---|---|
| Major releases | Up to 4 months |
| Minor releases | Up to 45 days |
| Patches, hotfixes, maintenance packs | Up to 45 days |
| Day zero uses (IBM security policy) | Within 5 days |