Changes to Carbon Black Offering
For 18 years, OARnet has partnered with VMware to offer their products and services to all
public sector markets in Ohio through aggregate pricing programs. Unlike other products and
services in this arrangement, Carbon Black EDR was sold directly to our community through
third-party resellers without OARnet's direct involvement.
Following Broadcom's acquisition of VMware in 2023, which included Carbon Black, the
company decided to integrate Carbon Black's cybersecurity solutions with its existing Symantec
products, creating a new business unit called the "Enterprise Security Group" (ESG), effectively
merging the two security platforms under one umbrella; this means Carbon Black is now part of
Broadcom's broader security portfolio and detached from VMware product line.
This change has severely limited our ability to leverage the OARnet community’s core
investments in other VMware services for discounts on Carbon Black. To date, all of Symantec’s
offers through Carahsoft would impose significant financial risks for OARnet and our community,
leading to an impasse in negotiations.
As a result, OARnet will no longer be able to sponsor a Carbon Black offering. This decision is
based strictly on financial risk and does not reflect any judgment on the Carbon Black product.
Going forward, Carahsoft and its reseller network will engage you directly with individual
proposal terms and pricing for renewals upon expiration of your individual contracts. If you have
questions about our decision to end OARnet’s Carbon Black offering, please contact us. For
contract renewals and pricing inquiries, please reach out to Carahsoft: oarnetvmware@carahsoft.com.
