Recently released spending intentions survey data from Enterprise Technology Research shows that the hyperconverged infrastructure market has become a competitive battle between VMware Inc. and Nutanix Inc., with other players lagging far behind.

“It confirmed the general market share numbers that we hear out there,” said Stu Miniman, co-host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio in Boston, during a breaking video analysis. “VMware’s vSAN and VxRail are doing very well, and they’re adding new customers. Nutanix is the second horse in this two-horse race.”

Miniman was joined by Dave Vellante, co-host of theCUBE, and they discussed the competitive situation between Nutanix and VMware, along with speculation surrounding possible future moves inside the HCI space by other major players (see the full discussion with transcript here).

Customers prefer simplicity

While the ETR data shows a two-horse race, Nutanix has been weathering stiff headwinds on the track in 2019. The company’s stock has dropped from a high of $53 per share to below $18 over the past 52 weeks as it continues transitioning to a subscription-based business model.

Still, the company has stuck to its easy-to-understand mantra of “computing, invisible, anywhere,” and that has resonated with its customer base in the competitive and lucrative HCI market.

“Their customers are really happy; they like the simplicity,” Vellante noted. “There’s a war going on because there’s big money to be made here.”

When there’s big money to be made, the major players usually sit up, take notice and act accordingly. That has created a competitive subplot involving Dell Technologies Inc., which owns VMware, and Nutanix, according to Miniman.

“There is a huge pipeline of Dell hardware with Nutanix software, and they’re at loggerheads,” Miniman explained. “Dell EMC and VMware are doing all they can to dial that down, so they put pressure on the channel. Even some of the most loyal Nutanix channel partners that work with Dell have had pressure to do more VxRail.”

Recent changes within executive ranks among tech companies have fueled speculation that Google LLC could be interested in purchasing Nutanix. Sunil Potti, chief product and development officer for Nutanix, left the company in May to join the team of Thomas Kurian, chief executive officer at Google Cloud.

“From what I hear, he’s not over there to broker a deal,” Miniman said. “Sunil had a great run at Nutanix, there was a clean break there.”

Here’s the complete video analysis, one of many CUBE Conversations from SiliconANGLE and theCUBE:

Photo: SiliconANGLE