Broadcom's acquisition of VMware produced two distinct cost crisis mechanisms for VMware customers: the VCF bundle mandate for compute infrastructure, and the EUC (End User Computing) bundle mandate for virtual desktop and application delivery. VMware Horizon — the primary enterprise VDI platform — sits squarely in the EUC category. Broadcom's commercial position is that continued access to Horizon support requires purchasing Workspace ONE subscription bundles that include capabilities customers never asked for, at prices representing 3–5× the cost of pre-acquisition Horizon SnS.
Third-party support for VMware Horizon provides the exit from this mandate. Horizon 7.x, 8.x, and Horizon 2019–2023 release customers holding perpetual licences continue operating under full supported cover at 75–80% less than Broadcom's Workspace ONE subscription. Your VDI infrastructure, persistent and non-persistent desktop pools, RDSH application publishing, and Unified Access Gateway configuration continue without the Broadcom subscription ultimatum.
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Broadcom eliminated standalone Horizon SnS renewal in 2024. Customers wishing to maintain Broadcom support on Horizon perpetual licences are directed to Workspace ONE bundles, which include Unified Endpoint Management (UEM), Access (identity), Intelligence (analytics), and Horizon — at a per-user subscription price. For a 5,000-user Horizon estate, this represents approximately £380,000–£520,000/year vs. £80,000–£105,000/year for equivalent TPS coverage.
Your Horizon Perpetual Licence Rights
Broadcom's EUC bundle mandate is a support commercials change, not a licence change. VMware Horizon perpetual licences purchased prior to the bundling announcement remain valid. Broadcom cannot revoke a perpetual licence without breaching the original licence agreement. The same perpetual licence rights analysis that applies to VMware vSphere and NSX perpetual licences applies equally to Horizon perpetual licences.
The EU competition law commitments made by Broadcom as conditions of the VMware acquisition approval explicitly preserve VMware customer rights to continue using perpetual licences and receive equivalent support at equivalent pricing. Third-party support on Horizon perpetual licences is the mechanism that fulfils this commitment commercially. The Broadcom VMware licensing changes complete guide covers the full perpetual licence rights framework.
VMware Horizon Version Matrix — TPS Eligibility
| VMware Horizon Version | VMware/Broadcom EOS | Broadcom Status | TPS Available |
|---|---|---|---|
| Horizon 2306 / 2309 / 2312 | 2026–2027 | EUC bundle mandate applies | ✓ Full TPS |
| Horizon 2209 / 2212 / 2303 | 2025–2026 | EUC bundle mandate applies | ✓ Full TPS |
| Horizon 2111 / 2206 | 2024–2025 | End of SnS / bundle mandate | ✓ Full TPS |
| Horizon 8 (2012/2103/2106) | Ended 2023–2024 | End of Support | ✓ Full TPS |
| Horizon 7.13.x (last H7 release) | Ended Jan 2023 | End of Support | ✓ Full TPS |
| Horizon 7.12 / 7.11 | Ended 2022 | End of Support | ✓ Full TPS |
| Horizon 7.10 and earlier | Ended 2021 | End of Support | ✓ Full TPS |
| Horizon Connection Server (all versions) | Aligned to Horizon | Aligned lifecycle | ✓ TPS (with Horizon) |
| Unified Access Gateway (UAG) | Aligned to Horizon | Aligned lifecycle | ✓ TPS (with Horizon) |
What TPS Covers for VMware Horizon
Horizon TPS covers the complete VDI and application delivery infrastructure stack — not just the core Horizon broker:
Horizon Connection Server and Broker
- Connection Server cluster configuration, load balancing, and replication
- Desktop pool and application pool management — floating, dedicated, persistent, non-persistent
- Entitlement configuration, user assignment, and access group management
- Composer-linked clones and Instant Clones (IC) configuration and troubleshooting
- Smart Card and certificate-based authentication configuration
Unified Access Gateway (UAG)
- UAG deployment and high-availability configuration (2-NIC and 3-NIC topologies)
- External access — Blast, PCoIP, and HTML Access tunnelling
- Identity bridging and reverse proxy configuration
- DMZ security policy configuration and certificate management
Horizon Agent and Client
- Horizon Agent installation, GPO policy configuration, and troubleshooting
- Display protocol performance — Blast Extreme codec tuning, PCoIP session optimisation
- USB redirection, client drive mapping, and printer redirection configuration
- Horizon Client compatibility across Windows 10/11, macOS, and thin client firmware
RDSH Application Publishing
- Remote Desktop Session Host farm configuration and load balancing
- Application pool configuration and application entitlement
- User Profile Disks and FSLogix profile container integration (where applicable)
- Session pre-launch, session lingering, and disconnected session handling
Horizon Infrastructure Integration
- vSphere integration — desktop pool vCenter connectivity and resource pool configuration
- Storage policy configuration — vSAN, traditional NFS/iSCSI for desktop pools
- Active Directory/LDAP integration and domain trust configuration
- VMware App Volumes integration for application layering (where in scope)
Sector-Specific Horizon TPS Considerations
NHS and Healthcare — Clinical Workstation VDI
NHS trusts and hospital groups are the highest-concentration VMware Horizon user base in the UK public sector. Clinical workstation VDI — providing doctors and nurses with application access from any clinical workstation — was built on Horizon 7.x and 8.x over the past decade. The NHS's procurement framework does not accommodate sudden 3–5× cost increases in core infrastructure. Broadcom's EUC bundle pricing is incompatible with NHS budget cycles. Third-party support provides NHS trusts with contract continuity, predictable costs, and the operational stability to make infrastructure decisions on their own timeline. The healthcare sector TPS page covers NHS VMware estate management in detail.
Financial Services — Trader Workstations and Branch VDI
Investment banks and retail banks using Horizon for trader workstations (high-performance GPU-enabled sessions) and branch office VDI have two distinct profiles. Trader workstation Horizon deployments have specific latency and frame-rate requirements. Branch VDI deployments prioritise reliability and bandwidth efficiency. Both profiles benefit from TPS — the critical factor is that support engineers have genuine Horizon expertise across the display protocol and UAG layers. The financial services TPS page covers VMware in banking environments.
Public Sector — Council and Government VDI
UK local authorities and central government departments represent a large VMware Horizon installed base. Many deployed Horizon under Crown Commercial Service (CCS) agreements that pre-dated the Broadcom acquisition. The commercial terms of these agreements do not contemplate a 3–5× subscription uplift. TPS provides public sector organisations with a compliant alternative to Broadcom subscription within the procurement framework constraints. See the public sector TPS page.
Four-Profile Cost Model — VMware Horizon TPS Saving
Moving VMware Horizon to Third-Party Support
- Licence verification — Confirm perpetual licence ownership for all Horizon CCU or Named User licences. Perpetual licence certificates should be held on file. Broadcom cannot mandate subscription for perpetually licensed software.
- Environment documentation — Document Connection Server cluster topology, pool configuration, UAG DMZ architecture, and AD integration. This forms the TPS provider's coverage baseline.
- Broadcom contract review — Identify contractual cancellation mechanics for current SnS or EUC bundle terms. Confirm cancellation period.
- TPS onboarding — TPS provider establishes monitoring, ingests support history, defines incident response procedures. Horizon-only TPS onboarding: typically 10–15 working days.
- vSphere alignment — If your vSphere estate is also under TPS consideration, align Horizon and vSphere TPS engagements. Combined VMware TPS is common and provides a unified support envelope across the full virtualisation stack. See the vSphere TPS page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can TPS support Horizon with VMware App Volumes?
Yes. App Volumes application layering is within Horizon TPS scope where it is deployed as part of the Horizon environment. App Volumes agent and manager configuration, layer capture/assignment issues, and integration with persistent and non-persistent pools are all handled as incidents within the TPS SLA.
What about Horizon Universal Licence customers?
Horizon Universal Licences are subscription-based and do not convey perpetual rights. TPS in its current form applies to perpetual Horizon licences (CCU or Named User). Customers with Universal Licences should take advice on whether migration to perpetual licence terms before TPS engagement is commercially viable.
Does Horizon TPS cover the underlying vSphere infrastructure?
Horizon TPS covers the Horizon software stack. vSphere infrastructure support is a separate TPS engagement. Many customers run combined Horizon + vSphere TPS for a unified VMware support envelope. The VMware TPS service page covers the combined engagement structure.
How does TPS handle Horizon Instant Clone pool refresh cycles?
Instant Clone pool refresh — push image, recompose, and scheduled refresh operations — is within TPS scope. TPS engineers support all Horizon pool maintenance operations including golden image management, snapshot baseline changes, and pool-level troubleshooting.