Nutanix’s opportunity for mid-market MSPs in the cloud

In just the past 12 months, Nutanix has shifted from competing with hyperscalers to partnering with the like of AWS, Google, and Azure included, opening new opportunities.

But what does this really mean for managed service providers (MSPs) in Australia and New Zealand?

Nutanix director hybrid cloud Asia Pacific Japan, Michael Car told ARN Nutanix five of its first 15 years as best friends with VMware, then the next ten competing intensely with it.

“For the past five, it was all about going head-to-head with the hyperscalers, now suddenly, in the past 12 months, we’ve said let’s partner,” he said.

What Nutanix is offering is a unique positioning whether partners are still using traditional stacks like Nutanix Cloud Platform (NCI) for infrastructure or Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) for automation, or if they’ve integrated Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP).

Car explained that MSPs now have the option to help customers through either a virtual machine-based setup or a modernisation journey through Kubernetes.

MSPs have an opportunity to guide customers through multiple stages, from migrating virtual machine infrastructure to Kubernetes, and eventually integrate those with native services in Azure, AWS, and other cloud environments, he said.

“From a partner perspective, this means you can extend the journey with your customers over a long period, helping them convert their legacy infrastructure, undergo their first stage of modernisation, and eventually fully transform their organisations by integrating native cloud services,” Car said.

“Nutanix offers flexibility in how partners consume and deliver this transformation while minimising the need for extensive upskilling,” he said. “Partners can continue with NKP and other Nutanix tools without needing to master more complex native cloud services.”

Getting off the VMware train

The appeal of Nutanix, as Car explained, is becoming clearer as Broadcom’s changes to VMWare’s Cloud Provider Program (VCPP) push partners to transition customers away from VMware.

“Partners do have a choice,” said Car. “They can stay with VMware, but we’ve seen significant product deprecation over the past 12 months. That’s not just a financial issue; it’s a technical one.

“If you decide to work with Nutanix, you’re committing to a hybrid, multi-cloud approach that we’ve been clear about, and it’s working.”

On the flip side, staying with VMware might be financially and technically disadvantageous in the long run, Car explained.

“Partners can either make the change now and benefit from cloud-native models, or risk falling behind,” he said.

When it comes to the move away from VMware, it can be “simple”.

“We’ve made a lot of free training resources available to partners and customers,” he said. “The real challenge isn’t the learning curve… it’s the mindset.

“If someone has been running VMware for 10 years, there’s a hesitation to change. It’s about overcoming that mindset.”

Falling behind

Car noted the industry was moving so fast, for example, two years ago no one really knew how well generative artificial intelligence (AI) would take off.

“Now, if you’re not jumping on the AI train, you’re being left behind,” he said. “Cloud-first strategies were adopted fast a few years ago, but AI is moving even faster.”

If MSPs wait another 12 months to make the decision to pivot, they will “be way behind their competitors”.

“It’s a tough environment [for] [MSPs],” noted Car. “We’re also seeing macroeconomic challenges, especially in places like Australia. The ability to save 5-10 per cent annually on IT costs is something that many customers are actively looking for.

“Cloud adoption, coupled with AI, enables those savings immediately. For example, if a customer switches to AWS today, they might see a 20 per cent saving month-on-month, compared to waiting for a hardware refresh cycle in a few years.”

Even currency issues are always going to be a challenge when you’re outside the US, said Car.

The role of the distributors

“There are ways to mitigate that,” he said. “For example, if you’re purchasing through AWS Marketplace, Nutanix has distributors and partners who can help hedge the currency risk for you over a longer period.

“Even if you’re concerned about fluctuating prices, there are strategies to protect yourself.”

Distributors will play a part, Nutanix global channel chief David Gwyn told ARN, as former VMware partners bring customers over to the vendor.

“Coming from AWS, I didn’t fully understand the value distributors bring,” said Car. “But the more I’ve worked with distributors like Ingram or Dicker, I’ve realised how much they can help.

“They can handle the financial structuring of deals, simplify transactions, and take a lot of the legwork out of the process for MSPs. It’s more than just passing products through, it’s about adding value.”

Car pointed out that most people don’t fully “realise how much cloud services depend on the channel”.

“AWS and other hyperscalers heavily invest in their partner networks because they know that partners are key to accelerating cloud adoption,” he said. “They train partners, offer financial incentives, and provide valuable support.

“The same applies to Azure and Google, though with different incentive programs. They make sure their partners are certified and have the tools they need.”

Nutanix also provide specialist team comes in to help MSPs figure out how to scale and evolve without having to completely transform their entire business model overnight.

“It doesn’t mean you need to change your entire business framework, but you need to make a decision that’s going to put you on that path,” said Car.

Car encourages MSPs to leverage Nutanix’s experience and to not “do it on their own”.

“If you want to make the move to cloud, let us help you through that process,” he said. “We can assist with onboarding, simplify procurement, and ensure you’re getting the most out of cloud platforms.”

Lilia Guan travelled to Nutanix .Next 2025 conference as a guest of Nutanix.