Nutanix has made significant inroads into VMware’s customer base, poaching nearly 700 VMware users in the most recent fiscal quarter. This migration trend follows the 630 new customers added in the previous quarter, reflecting growing dissatisfaction among VMware clients. Nutanix CEO Rajiv Ramaswami confirmed that most of these new customers were moving away from legacy VMware stacks, signaling a major shift in the virtualization market.
Nutanix’s aggressive push for VMware customers has translated into strong financial results. In its second fiscal quarter, the company’s revenue surged 16% year-over-year to $655 million, while net income grew by 70% to $56.4 million. Analysts note that Nutanix’s ability to offer a simpler and cost-effective migration process is a key factor driving its success.
To accelerate migrations, Nutanix has partnered with AWS, Cisco, and Dell Technologies. Early traction has been observed among customers moving from VMware Cloud on AWS to Nutanix’s AWS-powered solution and from on-premises infrastructure to the public cloud. Ramaswami emphasized that cloud-to-cloud migrations are faster since they do not require hardware upgrades, reducing friction for enterprises looking to transition.
Nutanix’s collaboration with Cisco has been particularly fruitful, contributing significantly to customer acquisition in recent quarters. Additionally, its reseller work with Dell Technologies is expected to yield stronger results in the next quarter as more integrated solutions become available. These alliances are helping Nutanix position itself as a leading alternative to VMware.
While smaller VMware migrations can be completed within months, larger enterprise customers face longer transitions, sometimes spanning up to three years. These organizations rely on multiple VMware products and have extensive custom scripts and integrations, requiring professional services to ensure a seamless migration.
Industry analysts, including Forrester Research’s Naveen Chhabra, highlight the deep-rooted nature of VMware’s ecosystem, which has been built over decades. Businesses relying on VMware’s extensive networking and partner ecosystem face operational challenges in migrating their workloads to alternative solutions like Nutanix.
Despite Nutanix’s success, Broadcom remains confident in its VMware strategy. The company reported strong growth in its VMware-infused software infrastructure business, with total CPU core bookings rising to 21 million, up from 19 million in the previous quarter. Additionally, 70% of these new bookings were for VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), indicating that many enterprise customers remain committed to VMware.
Broadcom CEO Hock Tan revealed that 4,500 of VMware’s top 10,000 customers have transitioned to the VCF platform, generating an annualized booking value (ABV) of $2.7 billion. These numbers suggest that Broadcom is successfully retaining many of its largest VMware clients, despite Nutanix’s aggressive expansion.
Broadcom’s recent restructuring of VMware’s licensing models has simplified its offerings and clarified its market strategy. Prashanth Shenoy, VP at Broadcom, emphasized that 2024 was focused on streamlining VMware’s product line and improving customer confidence. In 2025, Broadcom is shifting its focus toward expanding VMware’s adoption and optimizing partner engagement.
As competition intensifies, enterprises must weigh their options between Nutanix’s simplified migration approach and Broadcom’s VCF-based strategy. While VMware’s long-term customers may take years to transition, Nutanix’s aggressive push suggests a growing market shift toward alternative virtualization solutions. The coming years will determine which vendor emerges as the dominant force in enterprise virtualization.
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