3485: The Road to Predictable, Reliable Infrastructure with Nutanix

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[00:00:57] But enough from me. Let's get today's guest on right now. What does the future of end-user computing look like when you combine the secure endpoint capabilities of iGel with the hybrid multi-cloud power of Nutanix? This is a question that shaped much of the conversation at iGel's Now and Next event here in Frankfurt,

[00:01:24] where hundreds of IT leaders, technologists and partners gathered to explore what's truly next for digital workspaces. And across three days, I've spoken with iGel's leadership team, from the CEO Klaus to John Walsh and James Millington. In fact, I've actually recorded eight interviews here about how prevention-first security, business continuity at the endpoint,

[00:01:49] and the rise of immutable operating systems that are designed to resist ransomware by default are gaining a lot of attention. But among the many voices on the show floor, I think one conversation in particular stood out clearly, and that is connected to endpoint security, the bigger picture of cloud infrastructure, data mobility and AI readiness.

[00:02:12] So, on the show floor, I bumped into today's guest, and she leads ISV partnerships at Nutanix across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Ironically, we were both recently at Jitex Global in Dubai, but we didn't know each other, we didn't meet each other then. But here at iGel, here at Now and Next in Frankfurt, we had a conversation. And for those of you that are unfamiliar, I would imagine everyone knows who Nutanix is,

[00:02:38] but if you are new to them, they are an American cloud computing company founded back in 2009 and possibly best known for pioneering hyper-converged infrastructure and an approach that combines storage, networking and virtualization into a single software platform. And I think it was that breakthrough that paved the way for what we all now call hybrid multi-cloud, the place where workloads can move seamlessly between public and private clouds and even out to the edge.

[00:03:06] So, today, Nutanix is trusted by enterprises all around the world to manage their infrastructure with simplicity and flexibility. And yet, its unified platform can run on applications, data and AI workloads across any environment, whether it be on-prem, in the cloud or at the edge. And their technology stack includes Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure, Cloud Manager and Unified Storage,

[00:03:33] all of which aims to help enterprises modernize IT, but at the same time, reducing operational overheads. And the reason I mention that is I don't want anybody getting left behind in today's conversation, because at this year's Now and Next, Nutanix wasn't just a sponsor. I think their presence reflected a much deeper partnership with IGEL, one that's helping organizations unify endpoint security management with scalable cloud-ready virtualization.

[00:04:01] And one of the things that excited me is how together these two companies are offering what many CIOs have been searching for, a simpler way to deploy, protect and manage virtual desktops and modern applications in hybrid environments. So, you're going to talk about Nutanix Cloud Platform, how it integrates with the IGEL OS, and also the company's new preventative security model to create a resilience foundation for digital workspaces.

[00:04:30] And if we've got time, we'll also talk about how that collaboration is helping customers run workloads anywhere while reducing attack surfaces and automating patching from the infrastructure layer up. And I think this is one of those conversations on a show floor that, for me, tied the whole thing together. Whether it be immutable endpoint to the intelligent cloud backbone, it's a look at how global partnerships are quietly redefining what resilience means.

[00:04:59] What it means in a world where every organization is becoming an AI-powered enterprise. But enough from me. What I want to do is beam your ears directly onto the show floor at this conference so you can listen to two people having a chat and I think you'll find this incredibly useful. So, buckle up and hold on tight as I beam your ears directly here in Frankfurt, Germany, right now.

[00:05:26] So, thank you for joining me here at IGEL now and next in Frankfurt. Could you tell everyone listening a little about who you are and what you do? Sure, and thank you for this opportunity to IGEL. Glad to be here. My name is Sush Kajaria and I am responsible for all of the ISV partnerships across Europe, Middle East and Africa at Nutanix. For people listening, hearing about you for the first time and why you're here exactly,

[00:05:55] tell me a little bit more about Nutanix and how you partner with IGEL too. Great question, Neil. So, at Nutanix, our mission, our core is to simplify how organizations create, build and run modern applications anywhere. Be it their own data center or in the cloud or at the edge.

[00:06:16] Now, coming to the partnership with IGEL, we together help our customers to bring together the best of secured endpoint management and a modern cloud-ready EUC infrastructure that delivers the virtual desktops and appliances and applications. And I'm not sure how much you are able to share with me here at the conference,

[00:06:41] but what are some of the things that your organization is doing with IGEL to help shape what's now and what's next in end-user computing or EUC, of course? Yeah, so it's an exciting time from EUC perspective, I think. So, we are collaborating very closely with IGEL to deliver the comprehensive EUC strategy for our customers

[00:07:05] who need to look at the world that's today hybrid, today AI-enabled, and extremely security conscious with what's happening around geopolitically, right? We have integrated our cloud platform, which is Nutanix Cloud Platform, that includes our hypervisor called AHV for virtualization and Nutanix Cloud Cluster

[00:07:32] that enables our customers to move their workload across on-prem and in the cloud, right? And Nutanix files. All of this with IGEL's operating system and management stack. So, our customers, you know, together, this makes it easy for our customers to deploy, scale, and manage their EUC workloads much faster.

[00:07:59] And one of the big themes at the event this year is IGEL's preventative security model. So, what advantages are there of combining this new security model with Nutanix solutions offerings and how does it benefit your mutual customers? Anything you can share on that just to bring to life what we're talking about here? Absolutely. So, IGEL's preventative security model, it really aligns perfectly with Nutanix architecture today. And how?

[00:08:28] IGEL protects and at the end point, right? They remove the attack surface. So, no local data meaning and no exposed operating system vulnerabilities. Now, Nutanix, on the other hand, it secures everything from the infrastructure layer up with our data lens. And that includes the built-in encryption, micro-segmentation, and automated patching.

[00:08:57] So, together, I think it's a deep, you know, in architecture, deep security that provides customers the comfort that they need today for their EUC landscape. And one of the things I keep hearing about here this week is IGEL's Ready program. For people listening that are unaware of what this is, tell me a little about what IGEL Ready program is and also how it has improved your business or maybe even enhanced the customer experience. Anything you can share around that?

[00:09:25] Yeah, if I put myself in customer's shoes, I think, and when I look at my, you know, ecosystem vendor strategy, if the vendors are tightly aligned and the IGEL Ready program does exactly that, It has made a real difference when it comes to, you know, giving that confidence of Nutanix and IGEL customers.

[00:09:49] Why? Because the solutions from both sides are validated, tested, and optimized to work seamlessly together. It also creates the, you know, tighter feedback loop into the engineering teams. So, the new features and the optimization, they reach our customers faster. And I think it's great from customers' perspective. And one of the other themes I keep hearing here is the importance of community and collaboration.

[00:10:17] It's not just about IGEL, it's about the partners and the sponsors and the entire community behind it. So, from everything that you've seen and heard on the show floor, are there any key trends that might be impacting your partners and customers as we begin to close out 2024? Absolutely. So, there are about, you know, three or four, I would say, that I can list in terms of the key trends that are shaping the EUC landscape today.

[00:10:44] And, you know, forward-looking, current and forward-looking, I would say. Cyber security and zero trust architectures. That's the first thing, I think, on everybody's mind. And the second is that not many people probably talking about, but we see this trend and we are going after, I mean, we are helping a lot of customers do this, is the migration to Windows 11. Right? AI and machine learning. You see it everywhere. You hear it in all your conversations.

[00:11:12] But AI and machine learning are driving the user experiences. And then the last bit from the, you know, cloud platform organization perspective, I would say, the ongoing challenge is around managing hybrid and multi-cloud complexities. And I think together with IGEL, we are helping our customers navigate these transitions as they move forward.

[00:11:38] And as I'm walking around, I've seen a lot of posters and I could see that obviously Nutanix are sponsoring now and next 2025 here in Frankfurt. Tell me a little bit more about that. What made you want to sponsor the event and be a part of it? So we've been sponsoring the event from the past few years already, right? And, you know, IGEL comes and sponsors our .next on tours and .next are the main event, which is the flagship event for Nutanix. But that's not the reason why we are sponsoring this or we are part of this.

[00:12:07] It's for us, the way we look at IGEL Summit or IGEL Next and Now is it's not just an event. It's a community platform that brings the innovators of EUC, cloud infrastructure, security to all come together. And we're sponsoring also because there's this real collaboration that happens out here.

[00:12:32] And last but not the least, but IGEL has been an incredible ecosystem partner for us. And together we are shaping the next generation of how the EUC landscape and digital workspaces look like. And of course, you've been very busy whilst being here as well, you and your team. So anything you can share around what both yourself and indeed your team have been presenting to attendees this year? Anything you can share there, what you've been doing? Yeah, so it's been an exciting two days.

[00:13:00] We're looking forward to the third day of meeting our customers and partners here. And from our perspective, we are showcasing how Nutanix and IGEL together simplify and secure the EUC environments, modernize it, simplify it, secure that environment in the age of hybrid cloud and AI.

[00:13:22] How Nutanix platform allows that instant scalability of VDI workloads, how you secure the endpoint management with IGEL OS, which is super lightweight. And the third bit is we're also talking about our partnership with Omnisa. Omnisa, our CTO was on stage yesterday for the keynote, and he gave a shout out to how Nutanix and Omnisa partnership is progressing really well.

[00:13:51] So integration with Omnisa is something that how we are and we're showcasing how we are enabling AI-powered EUC for enterprises together with this, you know, partnership in the EUC ecosystem. And I think you've got somewhat of a unique vantage point here because you have a booth, you're on stage, so you're presenting and wanting people to walk away with a message. Equally, you want your teams to do the same as well. So what do you hope attendees will learn from the event this year?

[00:14:19] And also, what would you like your team to take away from participating at the event too? Yeah, so I think if we look at the, from attendees perspective, if the attendees walk away, realizing that modern EUC is not about choosing between cloud or on-prem.

[00:14:41] It's about having that unified, secure and flexible foundation when they think they use a strategy for the years ahead. The combination of IGEL and Nutanix give them exactly that. A blueprint for agility, for security and performance at scale.

[00:15:01] From Nutanix perspective, I think these events are great learning and sharing platform from our customers and partners together. All the feedback, all the insights that we collect, we gather here, it really fuels our roadmap. What is the future or what should be the future look like from EUC's ecosystem standpoint?

[00:15:27] And one of the things I always try and do on this podcast is give people actionable takeaways or learn something that they can implement in their own organisation. So just to bring to life everything we've talked about here today, do you have any examples of maybe a joint customer who's benefited from working with Nutanix and IGEL? You don't have to mention any names as such, but I think it would really help bring to life what we're talking about here.

[00:15:52] Yeah, so we have many customers and, you know, this joint, a lot of our joint customers and they are in the financial sector, financial bank and healthcare specifically. Those are two verticals that are doing really well and have seen a great advantage from a cost standpoint. And of course, from, you know, what IGEL brings on the table, what Nutanix brings on the table and they keep expanding.

[00:16:16] They keep, you know, moving forward and ensuring that, you know, these two plus, of course, with, you know, our VDI broker remain the foundation of their future landscape. Fantastic. Well, I know how incredibly busy you are. I've seen you running around sites. So for anybody listening that would just like to find out more information about anything Nutanix and anything that you're broadcasting here this week, where would you like to point everyone listening?

[00:16:46] So there are a couple of places they can, you know, they can visit our portal. There's plenty of information, not only about Nutanix, but how Nutanix really has been the pioneer in the VDI workspace and sorry, VDI and digital workspace. So visit our portal, visit our ecosystem, you know, part of the portal as well. Who are the partners that we are partnering with? What is what does the partnership look like?

[00:17:15] There are lots of customer references, joint customer references that are public. Take a look at that, see how those customers are really, you know, enjoying this ecosystem and enjoying what they're working on or, you know, for or how they have been successful with this, with, you know, trusting Nutanix as the infrastructure of choice for their VDI, you know, strategy.

[00:17:41] Well, I will have links to everything you mentioned there, make it nice and easy for people to find you. And as I said, I know how busy you've been. So just a big thank you for stopping by the show floor and speaking with me today. It's been a pleasure. Thank you so much, Neil. As the event wrapped up here in Frankfurt, I think it was clear that now and next had become more than a conference.

[00:18:01] It really did feel like a global collaboration hub, one where ecosystem partners are collectively reshaping how digital work will operate in the years ahead. And listening to my guest about how Nutanix and iGel are working together, it became clear quite quickly that hybrid, multi-cloud and endpoint security, these are no longer separate conversations.

[00:18:25] And the traditional lines between infrastructure, applications and devices, I think these are blurring quite fast. And today's IT leaders, they're not just managing workloads. Actually, they're almost orchestrating everything from virtual desktops to AI models across environments that need to be flexible, cost effective and most importantly, always secure.

[00:18:48] And I think there's also been a big sense of momentum across the event, from John Walsh's discussions on securing OT environments to Jason's deep dive into healthcare continuity and Klaus's vision for a future of zero trust architecture here on this show over the last few days. Each conversation is built towards a single theme, resilience through collaboration.

[00:19:13] And Nutanix's presence here underscored that message, showing how unified platforms and strong partnerships are becoming the backbone of modern enterprise computing. And as I left the show floor, there was a sense that the community built around now and next is one that is genuinely shaping the direction of the industry. But doing it quietly, not through hype, but through engineering progress and practical cooperation.

[00:19:43] And that's what makes this particular event so, and that's what makes this interview so relevant. For me, it captured how infrastructure, innovation and endpoint security are merging into this single cohesive story. So if you'd like to learn more about Nutanix, their partnership with IGEL or explore how their unified cloud platform supports AI and multi-cloud operations, I will include links in the show notes.

[00:20:08] And you'll also find details about the IGEL ready program and highlights from this year's event, etc. But enough rambling for me. I've spoken far too much today. I'd love to know what you think. Are hybrid multi-cloud strategies finally delivering on their promise of simplicity? Or are we still in the early stages of true convergence between cloud, edge and endpoint? Please share your thoughts with me on LinkedIn or X, just at Neil C. Hughes.

[00:20:37] And stay tuned for more conversations like this one. Head over to techtalksnetwork.com. We've got thousands of interviews over there across eight different shows. Love to hear your thoughts. And join me in unpacking the future of secure, intelligent enterprise computing. But that is it for today. So thank you for listening. And I'll speak with you all again bright and early tomorrow. Bye for now.