Building and running a data center is a high-stakes mission in which rapid innovation and vendor disruption weigh heavily on investment decisions. After making those decisions, new IT capabilities can unleash great excitement, followed by a strong obligation to maximize money spent.
After Broadcom acquired VMware, many IT teams faced price hikes and other changes that drove them to explore options for augmenting or moving away from VMware’s virtualization software. When investments in hardware are still not fully realized, many IT teams are beholden to keep using the hardware they bought.
“This drove us to create an alternative deployment option that allows IT teams to swap vSAN software for Nutanix software to reuse existing server hardware as part of a connected hybrid multicloud platform,” said Steve Carter, product marketing director at Nutanix.
“They might have felt locked into their VMware environment due to the existing hardware investment, but now they have a choice if they want to change software vendors.”
Nutanix’s ability to run vSAN Ready Node became available in May, around the same time that the hybrid multicloud software company expanded a long-term partnership with Dell, which introduced Dell XC Plus, a hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI)-based appliance that integrates Dell’s PowerFlex external storage with the Nutanix Cloud Platform.
“Together, these give Nutanix customers more deployment options than ever,” Carter said.
Why Now?
Carter said historically, customers had to buy new server hardware to modernize their data centers to run hyperconverged infrastructure powered by Nutanix software. That’s no longer the case.
“We have so many customers looking to migrate from VMware to Nutanix, and one of the things they’re asking is whether they can reuse their hardware,” he said. “Many recently bought hardware to power their existing VMware platform, so migrating immediately would mean doubling their spend on new equipment if they wanted to switch their hyperconverged software provider over to Nutanix.”
“In the past, customers had to make a choice and then stick with it, even if it wasn’t perfect,” he said. “But now, as they’re looking to move off of VMware, they have a new option.”
Around the time Broadcom acquired VMware, research firm Forrester predicted that 20% of VMware customers would move away from the vendor in 2024. Five months into 2024, a survey reported in Arts Technica showed that 73% of respondents expected VMware prices to more than double. In August, SiliconAngle reported that customers report net contract value increases from 25% to 500% and, in some cases, even higher. Reports show this is driving enterprises to look for VMware alternatives.
Carter said Nutanix's growing engineering teams and partnerships with OEM server vendors contributed to its ability to certify its vSAN Ready Node software to run on hardware available on the market. He pointed to the hardware compatibility list (HCL) and said that Nutanix continues targeting hardware options prospective customers request.
“If a company is interested in moving to Nutanix, but their hardware isn’t yet on the HCL, we can prioritize it,” he said. “We need that input to know that there’s demand.”
“We want IT teams to be able to ‘bring your own hardware’ and Nutanix will run on it,” Carter said.
Making the Change
Large enterprises and public-sector customers are already taking advantage of Nutanix software. Carter said there’s a large U.S.-based insurer, an e-commerce company in India, and the government of a midsized European country, all of which are now running Nutanix on the hardware that previously supported VMware environments.
During Nutanix’s Q4 2024 earnings call in September, Nutanix CEO and president Rajiv Ramaswami called out another example.
"Our largest win in Q4 was a multimillion-dollar ACV deal with a North American-based Fortune 100 financial services company. Following a roughly year-and-a-half engagement with us, they chose to replace their existing solution with Nutanix Cloud Platform, including our AHV hypervisor, as well as Nutanix Cloud Manager,” Ramaswami said during the conference call.
“This customer, who had been using a competing HCI solution in much of the footprint, was able to utilize their existing hardware for their Nutanix software deployment, obviating the need for a hardware refresh. "
Carter said that companies that switch to Nutanix while retaining their vSAN Ready Node hardware open the door for other capabilities, calling out Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) as a way customers manage a hybrid multicloud operation.
Nutanix has a long history of helping organizations expand beyond VMware software.
“The vast majority of Nutanix customers are or were once VMware customers,” he said. “Things have just really accelerated now.”
“People are telling us: ‘As much as we love VMware, it’s not VMware anymore.’ They’re looking for a new home.”
