Nutanix NEXTConf Heavy On News, But Google, Veeam Deals Get The Buzz

… he has yet to see AHV in wide use; still, lots of people are looking at it to potentially avoid the “VMware tax,” so he’s watching adoption.

“They are creating desirable features that solve challenges when trying to adopt cloud locally,” said White. “The key will be how they can execute on this vision.”

Other announcements didn’t get as much keynote love, but they’re here now and will help channel and system integrator partners, including MSPs and CSPs looking to sell services based on Nutanix.

In a deal with HPE — which was oddly absent from the sponsors board — Nutanix’s Enterprise Cloud Platform software will be available on a term-license basis on HPE ProLiant servers, in addition to Cisco UCS B-series blades (UCS C-series was already supported). The company also supports Dell EMC and Lenovo hardware for those not looking to go the appliance route, and at the show IBM announced it will run the entire Nutanix stack on Power platform.

The Nutanix Go program is designed to let companies lease hardware in a flexible consumption model.

Nutanix also announced an end to the three-node minimum purchase and an expansion of the Go program, where companies can essentially lease hardware in a flexible consumption model.

Nutanix showcased case studies from some of its exhibitors, including Lenovo. Kirk Skaugen, president of Lenovo’s data-center group, discussed case studies for customers using its solutions with Nutanix, including Calloway Golf, Jiffy Lube and Beam Suntory.

“Our goal, quite simply, is to be your fastest growing partner,” said Skaugen.

Silver sponsor Veeam Software announced an expanded partnership with Nutanix in which it becomes the premier availability solution provider for Nutanix virtualized environments. Veeam also will natively support Nutanix AHV in its Availability Suite by year’s end, an announcement that drew applause. In a statement, the companies said they are “fully committed to the channel” and that the deal will increase partner sales opportunities. Veeam will become a strategic technology partner within the Nutanix Elevate program and be a featured app in the new Nutanix Marketplace.