Nutanix also announced a pair of incents, one of which is explicitly around XC Core sales, and the other, covering all Nutanix sales, introduces a five per cent rebate for bringing new customers to Nutanix.
John Shirley, Director of Product Management, Dell EMC XC family
Today, Dell EMC is announcing an expansion of their XC series, which combines Nutanix software with Dell hardware. The new XC Core is not a new appliance, but is a distinct method of purchasing software and support – directly from Nutanix. Nutanix is making the option more attractive by introducing a Nutanix Rebate Program for Dell EMC XC Core, which provides partners s who sell qualified XC Core nodes with Nutanix software with a rebate of up to $3,000 per node. Nutanix also announced their first-ever New Customer Acquisition Rebate Program, which gives partners up to a five per cent rebate for winning net-new customers for Nutanix. The new customer acquisition program applies to all Nutanix sales, not just XC Core.
Dell EMC sells the XC series where customers want a non-VMware hypervisor.
“We support a very broad range of non-VMware hypervisors, including the Nutanix AHV hypervisor,” said John Shirley, Director of Product Management, Dell EMC XC family. “Hyper-V is the fastest growing one because that’s where we have concentrated our efforts.”
XC Core is all about customer choice, Shirley said.
“We think that the existing model of purchasing appliances will remain the most desirable route to market,” he said. “The appliance business is still strong, and we believe that a lot of customers will continue that experience. But we think some will like this option of purchasing the software and support from Nutanix, so we will support that model.”
XC Core is not being aimed at any specific verticals or segments, just at individuals who want a different model.
“Many of our customers have totally bought into the Dell ecosystem for support, but some may want the choice,” Shirley said. “Similarly, partners who like to sell appliances will continue to sell appliances.”
Rodney Foreman, Vice President of Global Channel Sales at Nutanix
Rodney Foreman, Vice President of Global Channel Sales at Nutanix, said that Nutanix likes the idea of selling the software separately, because the appliance model encourages some people to think Nutanix is a hardware company.
“We are transforming our business to be a software company,” he said. “XC Core focuses our partners on the software sale – not an appliance sale. For us, that’s the best of both worlds. For partners, this selling motion provides an opportunity to be more flexible in the solutions they can offer customers. On the support side, we are working to provide a more flexible system to partners, so that they can provide the system they want to bring to market.”
Foreman said they expect a significant growth in the business from the XC Core option, not just moving some sales from XC to XC Core.
“We expect XC and XC Core to both be successful,” he said. “We believe that we will see some Dell partners who don’t sell Nutanix today selling XC Core, because they can make money with the rebate. I also believe that as partners are working to make the cloud invisible, working to help customers not be locked in to single public cloud solutions, the XC Core option will allow them to get more creative in how they architect and design solutions. Because the software is more configurable and partners will choose configuration, I think we will see more sales of Nutanix Calm, our application automation and lifecycle management solution for the Nutanix and public clouds, which drives the multi-cloud story.”
The new Nutanix Rebate Program for Dell EMC XC Core rewards partners who sell qualified XC Core nodes with Nutanix software with a rebate of up to $3,000 per node. There are three rebate levels, depending on the model
“I think that this is something that will get the channel’s attention,” Foreman said.
The other new Nutanix promo, the Nutanix New Customer Acquisition Rebate Program, covers customers who have never bought from Nutanix at all previously, and offers rebates yup to five per cent.
“This is new for us,” Foreman said. “We have never had a new customer rebate before. It’s about rewarding partners for bringing in new customers. With Nutanix, once a customer buys, they continue to buy. Over 90 per cent buy again within the initial year.”
