As VMware customers worldwide are considering options for technology migration in face of the fallout from Broadcom’s takeover of the US virtualization giant, channel partners of its rival Nutanix have come up with reasons why it is an excellent alternative.
Resellers and partners of the American technology vendor pointed to the strength and advantage of Nutanix and its products during a recent online roundtable discussion moderated by Michael Magura, Nutanix’s Vice President of Partner Sales for Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ).
Pedro Duarte, Sales Director of Think Solutions in Australia, said that customers have limited choices when it comes to private cloud computing, specifically the virtualization stack.
“Nutanix, is a very strong player in that space. Microsoft is pushing everyone towards the Azure stack. There’s really not that much choice anymore. The obvious choice for a customer is Nutanix,” he said.
He pointed out that although customers know well about Nutanix’s “pedigree”, it’s difficult to transition from a three-tier customer to Nutanix, as that is not an overnight migration. “That’s really a journey. Our job now is really to help navigate that journey that customers are on and hopefully guide them in the right direction.”
Broadcom’s takeover of VMware
Soon after completing its acquisition of VMware in November, US semiconductor and software multinational Broadcom started reorganizing its latest subsidiary into four new divisions, stopping the sale of perpetual VMware licenses while offering discounts to entice existing customers to take up software subscriptions.
Many companies have been looking for alternatives to manage their hyperconverged infrastructure environments. Nutanix is one of the technology vendors that offer solutions to help them navigate the migration from VMware.
Experts say chief information officers and IT decision-makers are exploring options – stick with VMware, go to the public cloud, or look to alternative technology vendors. They reckon that one of the first challenges involves choosing the right hypervisor or virtualization platform to enable virtual machines (VMs).
Nutanix CEO Rajiv Ramaswami told Computer Weekly in March that many VMware customers have doubts whether it will remain the right long-term platform for them following Broadcom’s acquisition. He said those customers are uncomfortable with VMware’s direction, noting that although they have relied on its software to run mission-critical systems, they are “not in a happy place”.
Nick Winch, Chief Executive Officer of Qirx in Australia, which is also a Nutanix channel partner, told the online roundtable that Broadcom is looking at 80% of the value coming out of the top 20% of the VMware clients.
“It’s very worrying for the industry as a whole. The fact is you took something with 80-90% market share, and there wasn’t anybody mature enough across the three-tier stack to be able to move directly into that void. And that’s the biggest problem I think everybody has got on hand,” he said.
Praise for ‘less known option’
Amit Jain, Founder & CEO of Tech9Labs in India, said that having worked with several technology companies, he found a lot of strength in Nutanix technology.
“I know at the end of the day, Nutanix is going to take the lead, because of the kind of integration, ease, simplicity and agility that Nutanix technology really brings,” he said.
The CEO also pointed out that industry disruptions such as Broadcom’s takeover of VMware would really give a lot of autonomy to the tech partners. He added that the partners should not be just resellers or service providers, but instead they have to get up as consultants.
“They really have to come up, deal with the customers’ business, and see what best is being suggested to them. That autonomous element has to be brought within the partner ecosystem. And I think some of the technology companies are really helping those partners. Nutanix is one of them. No hesitation in saying so,” he said.
In response, Nutanix VP Magura said: “Obviously we’re the smaller, less known option in the market, and have been for 14 years. But having partners like you and everyone on this call, you expose the reality to a lot of the end customers that aren’t familiar with it, and they’re happy and they’re repurchasing.”
A partner you can count on
Pranay Anand, Vice President of Innovation & Technology Solutions at NTT in Singapore, said that as a tech resale business, his company prefers to work with alternative technology vendors like Nutanix instead of those with a large market share.
“If someone has 90% market share, it’s not necessary that I want to join the boat. I should be working with the alternatives to be able to take on some of that market share. Nutanix is a great partner for us to do this, and we’ve got some work to do. It’s not straightforward, let’s not kid ourselves – but it’s an opportunity,” said Anand.
What he loves about his company’s partnership with Nutanix is the focus on looking after the customers who are in a state of confusion and uncertainty, rather than on exploiting the opportunity at hand.
“The Nutanix leadership has done a fantastic job. I feel confident that when I embark on this transformation – be giving clients a pathway to migrate, operating a dual stack environment, or whatever the outcome will be – I can count on a partner like Nutanix,” he said.
Partnership in the true sense
Duarte said that his company has been a Nutanix partner for 12 years. “What we look at into a partner is essentially, it needs to be a partnership in the true sense.”
He said customers often look for support they need to resolve their problems. “It’s all good when things are going right, but when things are going wrong, who’s going to be there, holding my hand, supporting me through that issue, and ultimately resolving it. We take great pride in doing that as our business, and we need partners that do the same in return. And you have never disappointed us with that support,” he said.
“When we introduce a vendor to our clients, we take a leap of faith that this is going to be the right partnership for both us and the client moving forward. Nutanix has never let us down. I think that’s the most powerful statement I can make,” Duarte added.
Jain said that among the technology vendors that he has worked with over the past three decades of in the tech industry, “I must admit that Nutanix is really special.”
He said that he has not seen any customer who is unhappy with Nutanix services. “The kind of evolution which we have seen in the Nutanix technology and business is really commendable. It actually grew along with the business. It grew along with the growth of what customers really look for,” said the CEO of Tech9Labs.
In his view, Nutanix goes differently in its approach, simplifying each and every aspect of it, rather than making it complex all the time just because it is a technology and hence it needs to be complex.
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