Dell and Nutanix Redefine Hybrid Cloud Flexibility

The News

Dell Technologies and Nutanix have announced a major expansion of their collaboration. The Nutanix Cloud Platform will soon support Dell PowerStore, the company’s flagship enterprise all-flash storage platform. This integration introduces a new virtualization option for external storage, merging Dell’s high-performance infrastructure with Nutanix’s cloud operating model to deliver flexibility, scalability, and simplified management.

The Hybrid Cloud Market Is Maturing, Not Merging

The latest Dell–Nutanix announcement indicates hybrid cloud is evolving from a mix of technologies into a continuum of deployment choices. As theCUBE Research data shows, 61.8% of organizations operate in hybrid environments, while 68.3% cite security and compliance as top priorities in the next 12 months.

This shift is driving demand for modular, software-defined infrastructure that supports both traditional workloads and emerging AI and analytics initiatives. Developers and IT teams are increasingly looking for systems that unify performance with policy and bridge on-premises resilience with cloud-native agility.

Interoperability as a Differentiator

The integration of PowerStore with the Nutanix Cloud Platform represents a significant step toward operational simplicity. Developers may gain access to VM-centric operations through Nutanix Prism, combined with PowerStore’s automation and lifecycle management. This not only aligns with the market’s push for AIOps-driven automation (where 59.4% of enterprises cite automation as key to accelerating operations) but could also enable seamless scaling across compute and storage layers.

For organizations already managing multi-cloud architectures, this partnership aims to offer the practical benefit of deploying Nutanix where they already trust Dell infrastructure, without rearchitecting environments or compromising data governance.

Modernization Friction

Before integrations like this, we were faced with persistent friction when modernizing legacy workloads or aligning infrastructure across vendors. Many enterprises relied on manual configuration and siloed management tools, with 41.1% still using manual processes for configuration consistency.

This created a tension between flexibility and control, accelerating deployment in one layer often introducing compliance or performance gaps elsewhere. Teams had to choose between vendor-locked stacks that delivered predictability or open solutions that demanded heavy customization.

How This Changes the Developer Experience

The Dell–Nutanix collaboration could simplify that equation. Developers may now be able to:

Deploy Nutanix clusters backed by PowerStore storage for consistent, scalable performance.
Automate provisioning and lifecycle management through Nutanix Prism and Dell’s intelligent management interfaces.
Leverage data-centric security features such as PowerStore’s built-in cyber protection and Nutanix Flow for network security and DR.

The result is not a promise of “one cloud to rule them all,” but rather a blueprint for programmable infrastructure choice where developers can optimize for latency, security, or cost without refactoring core architectures. This aligns with theCUBE Research’s findings that 74.3% of organizations prioritize AI/ML investments, but depend on infrastructure modernization (44.4%) to make those investments viable.

Looking Ahead

The PowerStore–Nutanix integration signals Dell’s intent to strengthen its position in open hybrid ecosystems and extend its influence in disaggregated cloud infrastructure. Early next year, Dell Private Cloud will expand to fully support Nutanix with automated lifecycle management and independent scaling of compute and storage. This move mirrors the market’s growing interest in disaggregated, composable architectures.

This convergence of trusted infrastructure and cloud-native software could mean fewer trade-offs between governance and innovation. If successful, Dell and Nutanix’s joint roadmap may set a new precedent for “interoperable-by-design” enterprise clouds, helping organizations accelerate digital transformation without losing control of their data or tools.

Paul Nashawaty

Paul Nashawaty, Practice Leader and Lead Principal Analyst, specializes in application modernization across build, release and operations. With a wealth of expertise in digital transformation initiatives spanning front-end and back-end systems, he also possesses comprehensive knowledge of the underlying infrastructure ecosystem crucial for supporting modernization endeavors. With over 25 years of experience, Paul has a proven track record in implementing effective go-to-market strategies, including the identification of new market channels, the growth and cultivation of partner ecosystems, and the successful execution of strategic plans resulting in positive business outcomes for his clients.

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