Tesco eyes open source VMware alternative amid long-running spat

Tesco appears primed to switch to an open source VMware alternative as the supermarket giant continues its feud with the virtualization provider.

The company has posted an ad for a new ‘Head of Software Engineering: Edge Platform’ role in recent weeks, with the ad first spotted by The Register.

According to the posting, the new engineering lead will coordinate “two major, interconnected engineering priorities”.

This includes the creation of a “robust, scalable software driven edge management platform” alongside modernization of the firm’s edge virtualization estate “through the migration from VMware to Proxmox”.

Proxmox Virtual Environment (Proxmox VE) is an open source server management and virtualization platform based out of Vienna.

Tesco’s “business-critical” focus

The new position, which is based in Bengaluru, is a significant one, according to Tesco.

Indeed, the supermarket giant said the edge platform is “business-critical” and provides the “underlying computing environment and software capabilities that enable applications to run across our stores”.

“Store technology must remain dependable despite connectivity disruptions, constrained local resources and the complexity of managing software and infrastructure changes across thousands of locations,” the job ad reads.

“Failures or poorly executed changes can directly affect store operations, colleague productivity, and customer experience.”

The ad notes that Tesco is primarily seeking those with:

• “15+ years of experience in software engineering and technology”
• “Strong technical foundations and credibility across Java, Micronaut or comparable Java frameworks, microservices, REST APIs, Python automation, and Terraform”
• “Solid experience with Linux operating systems, edge computing, server hardware, virtualization and storage technologies, including the design, integration, deployment, or lifecycle management of infrastructure platforms”

Those who fit the bill have their work cut out for them, based on the job description.

Tesco said the new engineering head will “define and execute” the company’s edge platform engineering strategy, modernization roadmap, the aforementioned migration, and implementation of automated engineering practices.

A long-running spat

The job ad – and apparent shift away from VMware – marks the latest in a long-running spat between the supermarket giant and VMware owner Broadcom.

As ITPro reported last year, the company filed a lawsuit against Broadcom for £100 million over VMware licensing contracts.

At the time, Tesco accused the company of failing to maintain support for business critical software which underpins operations across the UK.

Broadcom has been repeatedly criticised for changes to VMware’s licensing setup since acquiring the virtualization giant in 2022 for $61 billion.

In court filings last year, Tesco said licensing changes raised prices by 237% and accused Broadcom of refusing to negotiate terms or packages. The filing alleged that Broadcom is taking advantage of its market dominance to raise prices – an accusation it has faced from European industry stakeholders.

In March this year, CISPE lodged an antitrust complaint with the European Commission, alleging that Broadcom uses unfair software licensing terms to maintain a dominant position in the European cloud market.

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