Allstate Insurance Company says Broadcom sicced a pile of software audits on it after the insurer decided to stop buying from VMware and CA Technologies, according to court filings in two lawsuits between the companies.
The fight matters for any large VMware customer trying to leave after Broadcom’s takeover. Enterprise software exits are supposed to be dull contract archaeology. Here, Allstate says they became litigation, with Broadcom companies pressing audits just as the insurer was heading for the door.
VMware sued Allstate in December 2025, alleging the insurer failed to comply with license audit duties that VMware says were required under its contract. Allstate, in a June 12 filing, gave a different account: it said VMware began a sloppy audit after learning Allstate would not renew deals with VMware or its sister company, CA.
Allstate said Broadcom “simultaneously and unreasonably” started four separate audits covering Allstate’s use of CA and VMware software after the company chose not to renew those contracts. On the VMware audit, Allstate said it “substantially and in good faith” complied with the audit and reporting terms in its agreements, and called VMware’s contrary claims unfounded.
Broadcom declined to comment to Ars Technica. The Register reported that it could not obtain comment from Allstate.
VMware says Allstate would not hand over audit materials
According to VMware’s complaint, Allstate and VMware had done business since 2008. VMware says it sent Allstate a formal audit notice in March 2025. The complaint says Allstate acknowledged receiving audit materials on May 7, 2025, but then failed to provide the requested information despite repeated contact from VMware and Connor Consulting, VMware’s audit partner.
The mechanical problem in the VMware audit is almost comically enterprise: VMware says its audit scripts needed VMware components running in Allstate’s environment. VMware’s complaint says Allstate told Connor Consulting on September 12, 2025, that it had “removed VMware from all devices” and therefore could no longer run the scripts Broadcom had provided.
VMware says Allstate followed up in October by saying all VMware instances had been terminated and removed from Allstate’s VMware enterprise license agreement environment, and that Allstate considered its audit obligations complete.
That is the core factual split. VMware says Allstate had to cooperate with an audit and did not. Allstate says it had complied, and that the audits arrived in retaliation for a non-renewal decision.
CA has a separate lawsuit over Symantec products
Broadcom is also fighting Allstate through CA Technologies in a separate case filed in May 2025. In that lawsuit, CA accuses Allstate of copyright infringement and breach of contract tied to the sale of Allstate’s Employer Voluntary Benefits business to Oregon-based StanCorp Financial Group.
CA alleges the sold business used Symantec products, and that Allstate sent a notice letter to Symantec, which CA says no longer exists, rather than sending a comparable notice addressed to CA.
The VMware and CA cases are both on a long track. In each, the parties have until May 17, 2027, to file dispositive motions, the kind of motions that ask a court to resolve claims without a trial.
Allstate has not said how much it depended on VMware or what virtualization platform it uses now. Its filings put it on the same side of a broader customer revolt that has also included T-Mobile, Tesco and Western Union, all identified in reporting as large companies moving workloads away from VMware after Broadcom’s acquisition.
This story draws on original reporting from Ars Technica.
