Stiff Competition Could Sink Nutanix Stock

Competitors are quickly encroaching on this tech stock’s market share, despite its impressive top-line growth. Now, through acquisitions and majority control, one competitor controls nearly half the market and has the ability to cut this firm’s market share. Risk of losing market share, when coupled with highly negative margins, unsustainable cash burn, and a soaring stock price mean @Nutanix Inc. ( #NTNX) is this week’s Danger Zone pick.

This detailed market share analysis reveals that, while Nutanix is the market leader, Dell, because of its ownership of VMware, holds the majority of power in the industry.

When Dell, EMC, and VMware market shares are combined, and hardware running NTNX software is excluded, they control 49% of the HCI market. More troubling for NTNX bulls, since Dell bought VMware in 2016, VMWare’s market share has increased at a much faster pace than Nutanix.

With a controlling (and financial) interest in @VMware, @DellEMC could limit Nutanix’s growth potential by promoting its own VMware product in favor of Nutanix’s software. Such a decision would instantly impact NTNX’s top-line, as Dell accounted for 10% of NTNX billings in fiscal 2016 and 2017. More importantly, Dell could inhibit NTNX’s potential market share, which, when excluding Dell hardware, was just 21% in 2017, down from 22% in 2016.

Nutanix provides enterprise cloud software that combines traditional servers, virtualization, and networking hardware/software into one integrated solution, also known as hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI). This market, along with the larger enterprise software market, is highly competitive. @Nutanix ’s main competitors include @VMware ( #VMW), @Cisco ( #CSCO), @DellEMC, @RedHat ( #RHT ), @NetApp ( #NTAP), @Hewlett Packard Enterprise ( #HPE), as well as #publiccloud providers @Amazon ( #AMZN ) and @Google ( #GOOGL ).

https://www-forbes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2018/02/21/stiff-competition-could-sink-nutanix-stock/amp/

Rubrik Alta adds Hyper-V and Nutanix AHV to backup appliance

#Rubrik ’s flash-equipped backup appliances have extended support to #Microsoft #HyperV and #Nutanix #AHV hypervisors, which means the supplier now supports most physical and virtual environments.

The addition of Hyper-V and Nutanix’s #Acropolis come in addition to #Linux and Windows physical server backup, as well as #VMware virtual environments and #AWS and #Microsoft #Azure cloud native backup.

The move comes as Rubrik announces its 4.0 Alta release, which also adds SQL Server Live Mount in which customers can run SQL Server operations directly from their backup copy.

Chris Wahl, chief technologist at Rubrik, said Nutanix AHV was added as a platform because of similarities between the two companies and their products.

“There are a lot of synergies between Rubrik and Nutanix,” he said. “It’s a similar architecture, with scale-out, node-based hardware. Many customers typically use Nutanix as primary storage and Rubrik as a secondary platform.”

Rubrik claims “VMware-like” functionality in Nutanix, with APIs that allow management from Nutanix as VMware customers have via VMware vStorage APIs for Data Protection (VADP).

Rubrik’s appliances use SuperMicro servers with flash and spinning disk inside, with capacities ranging from about 28TB to 120TB. They run Rubrik’s backup software and the Rubrik Cloud-Scale File System, a proprietary distributed file system.

http://www.computerweekly.com/news/450420632/Rubrik-Alta-adds-Hyper-V-and-Nutanix-AHV-to-backup-appliance

Hewlett Packard CEO Meg Whitman Is on the Prowl For Transformative Deals, Here's Who's Could Be Next. Nutanix, Arista, Red Hat, Pure Storage?

#HewlettPackardEnterprise ( #HPE ) CEO Meg Whitman extols the virtues of minimalism. "I'm probably the only CEO who actually likes running something smaller than something bigger," she said at HPE's Discover conference in Las Vegas late Tuesday. While HPE is slimming down by spinning off its enterprise services business and a software unit, it will also shop for new businesses. The divestitures pay HPE cash dividends of $3 billion and $2.5 billion in cash, respectively, giving it resources for more deals. "I like that dry powder, either to make the right acquisitions or to return cash to shareholders," Whitman said of HPE's strengthened cash balance. She told Bloomberg that acquisitions will be "a bigger part of our strategy," in an interview at the conference.

With the cash they have now, spinning out software and services, they are doing exactly what they said they would do, which is pick up some reasonably sized companies," said Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights and Strategy, regarding HPE's recent purchases of companies such as SimpliVity Corp. and Nimble Storage Inc.

HPE says it is looking for complementary technology that can plug into its distribution system and dovetail with its own offerings.

Storage technology company Nutanix Inc. (NTNX) would be a good match for HPE, Moorhead suggested, if its price had not run up recently. The stock, which closed at $18.60 on Wednesday, has gained 28% from its low in early May. Despite the recent run-up, shares are currently less than half its 52-week high of $46.78.

"Nutanix is too expensive," he said of the company, which has a $2.65 billion market cap. "If the price of Nutanix goes down, I could see a pretty good marriage there." Nutanix representatives could not immediately be reached on Wednesday.

Flash storage company Pure Storage Inc. (PSTG) , with a $2.7 billion equity valuation, would be a digestible target and would fit in with HPE's recent efforts in storage, Moorhead added. Pure Storage declined to comment, but CEO Scott Dietzen recently told trade publication StorageNewsletter.com that the company intends to stay independent.

Red Hat Inc. (RHT) is a good strategic fit that has too high of a price tag, Moorhead suggested. The company develops Linux cloud computing and storage software, among other products, and has $16.4 billion market cap.

Arista Networks Inc. (ANET) , with a $11.2 billion market cap, would be a "great strategic fit," Moorhead said. The company's high-frequency trading architecture is popular among finance companies, he added. "Arista makes a great pairing, they are just so expensive now," he said. "It would be another one of those 'OK here we go HP is going to blow all of their cash or dilute the stock' transactions."

https://www.thestreet.com/story/14169314/1/why-hpes-ceo-meg-whitman-is-cautious-about-deals.html

HPE Enterprise's Antonio Neri On The Blockbuster SimpliVity Acquisition And The Hyper-Converged Shortcomings Of Nutanix, Cisco And Dell-EMC

A #HyperConverged Game Changer Hewlett Packard Enterprise Group ( #HPE ) Executive Vice President Antonio Neri (pictured), the hard-charging architect of HPE's hybrid IT strategy, spoke with CRN Tuesday about the company's planned blockbuster acquisition of hyper-converged superstar #SimpliVity, the impact on competitors including #Nutanix, #Cisco and #DellEMC, and the future HPE SimpliVity hyper-converged #softwaredefined roadmap. HPE, which is paying $650 million for SimpliVity, plans to use SimpliVity's software as the basis for a full integrated set of software-defined data center offerings, including integration with HPE #3Par and #OneView, and even container-based hyper-converged offerings. The HPE SimpliVity product march will start with an HPE SimpliVity HC 380 appliance within 60 days of the close of the deal, then be followed within six months by additional appliances, including a #VMware appliance, a backup and disaster recovery appliance and a #Microsoft #HyperV appliance. "This is a phenomenal game-changer," said Neri. " There is a lot of money and margins partners can add here. The simplicity of bringing all of this together is the benefit to our partners. They can sell it as an integrated solution."

http://m.crn.com/slide-shows/virtualization/300083441/hpe-enterprises-antonio-neri-on-the-blockbuster-simplivity-acquisition-and-the-hyper-converged-shortcomings-of-nutanix-cisco-and-dell-emc.htm?itc=hp_slideshow

Inside a Bank that Went All In on Hyperconverged Infrastructure

When #PeoplesBank in Holyoke, Mass., recently decided to upgrade its data center with #hyperconverged infrastructure, it joined a rapidly growing group of banks. Hyperconverged infrastructure (also called hyperconverged integrated systems) combines virtualized computing, storage and network equipment in an integrated "stack" that can be managed with software. The stack can also include backup, recovery, replication, deduplication and compression. #Nutanix, #SimpliVity, #Cisco, #HPE, #Dell #EMC, #Pivot3 and #VMWare are among the vendors that offer hyperconverged infrastructure. It's the latest stage in the evolution toward software-defined computing, in which all technology in an IT environment is tightly integrated and can be managed with one software program. About 40% of all companies use hyperconverged infrastructure, according to the information technology research firm 451 Research. In financial services the numbers are slightly higher: 41.3% use the technology today and more than 25% plan to use it in the near future, according to the firm's latest surveys, which were conducted in the second quarter. "There's a larger contingent of folks who are either using it or have it planned in finance than any other vertical," said Christian Perry, research manager at 451. The company expects that number to grow over the next two years. It's still being used in a limited way, however. Gartner analysts say less than 5% of data in data centers is stored in hyperconverged infrastructures today. By 2019, they expect 30% of stored data in enterprise data centers to be deployed on such systems. And 20% of mission-critical applications will transition to hyperconverged by 2020.

http://www.americanbanker.com/news/bank-technology/inside-a-bank-that-went-all-in-on-hyperconverged-infrastructure-1092551-1.html

Nexenta CEO to Present the How Digital Transformation Is Influencing Software-Defined Infrastructures at NASSCOM Product Conclave 2016

SANTA CLARA, CA--(Marketwired - October 25, 2016) -  #Nexenta (@Nexenta), the global leader in Open Source-driven Software-Defined Storage ( #OpenSDS ), today announced that Nexenta Chairman and CEO, Tarkan Maner, will be a keynote speaker at the NASSCOM Product Conclave (NPC) 2016 (@NASSCOM_Product, #NPC2016). In its thirteenth year, NPC 2016 brings together emerging and seasoned entrepreneurs for a 2 day conference in Bangalore, India. This year's event will focus on "Navigating Turbulent Times" and will deliver a platform to drive conversations with global leaders allowing you to capture opportunities yet to be tapped. During his keynote, Tarkan will be joined by #Nutanix Founder and CEO, Dheeraj Pandey. These Silicon Valley #Unicorns will discuss how "Everything is Software." Following Dheeraj's IPO story, Tarkan will offer his unique perspective of navigating startups, gained through years of experience as an entrepreneur and industry leader. With MR Rangaswami as host, they'll discuss in a technology era where software is everything: What are the new opportunities for entrepreneurs? What is the next wave for cloud? How are data analytics reshaping the landscape? Why is Silicon Valley the hotbed for innovation? "We are thrilled to have Tarkan Maner back to speak at NPC 2016," said MR Rangaswami. "His insight on the global ecosystem and how to stay disruptive with technology will be extremely valuable to the experts, investors, founders and mentors attending this year." NPC will take place October 26 & 27, 2016 at The VIVANTA by Taj hotel in Bangalore.
http://m.marketwired.com/press-release/nexenta-ceo-present-how-digital-transformation-is-influencing-software-defined-infrastructures-2169324.htm

Why Microsoft SQL Server Thrives on Dell XC Series with Nutanix

Hyper-converged infrastructure ( #HCI ) has evolved from use cases such as virtual desktop infrastructure ( #VDI ) to now being robust and flexible enough for business-critical workloads at any scale. For example, #Dell #EMC XC Series appliances - powered by #Intel® Xeon® processors and #Nutanix software - enable customers to run #Microsoft SQL Server and most enterprise applications securely within their datacenters and cloud environments.

http://resources.infoworld.com/ccd/assets/121271/detail

Hyper-converged top-of-the-pops list is out: Guess who hasn't crushed it?

Surprise, surprise: #EMC is not top of the hyper-converged charts … yet. Forrester’s Hyper-converged Infrastructure ( #HCI ) Wave report for 2016’s third quarter looks at the top dozen HCI suppliers and rates them into four categories – leaders, strong performers, contenders and challengers. A square sectioned into four quarter-circle slices is used to graphically position the 12 suppliers. The report describes HCI like this: “The next wave of integrated systems, beyond the base level of converged hardware integration, is hyper-convergence, which installs a software-defined storage layer optimised for VM-aware operation on top of an integrated hardware and system software stack.” A #hyper-converged system should have: Integrated compute and storage resources Software-defined storage Automatic discovery and configuration Minimal management outside the hypervisor console Forestier’s analysts evaluated HCI suppliers against 28 criteria, which formed three categories; current offering, strategy, and market presence. Vendors had to have an available product, reference-able customers, an ability to demo the product, and an offering that has drawn significant interest from Forrester clients. This filtering produced a dozen suppliers from the total number out there.

#Nitanix #Simplivity #Pivot3 #VMware #EMC #Cisco #DellTechnologies

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/08/17/forresters_hypereconverged_wave_surprises/