Welcome, Cisco HyperFlex users!

By now, you've probably read about Cisco partnering up with Nutanix, after Cisco "threw in the towel" on HyperFlex.  The purpose of this post is to give you some comfort in your way forward.

First, some history.  Cisco started selling servers in 2009.  This was a strategic move by Cisco to hedge against competition in the networking space, where, at the time, Cisco held an 80+% market share.  The idea was that since Cisco was in so many corporate data centers on the networking side, there was value to being able to also supply compute, in the form of their UCS servers.  Made sense, although there was never a storage component to that idea, which I never understood.

In 2016, Cisco was seeing that companies like Nutanix and a few others were doing well selling hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI).  So, to stem eventual competition for their UCS servers, Cisco purchased a company called Springpath, which was a struggling company offering HCI.  Springpath was not a main player in the HCI space at the time.

Cisco combined their UCS servers and Springpath software to create their version of HCI, which they named HyperFlex.  HyperFlex started selling in 2016, I think.  Or, should I say, Cisco started giving away a lot of HyperFlex appliances with networking deals, in order to seed the market.  

You see, HyperFlex was never a big hit with users.  Of the HyperFlex market share (very small), many of the users got the product free as a part of a networking deal, and didn't really pay for HyperFlex itself.  I know this because I saw many HyperFlex shipping boxes sitting at customer sites, still with the appliances inside.  I would ask if they purchased HyperFlex, and most times, I learned they were given the products.  That was my experience...it may not have been yours.

Please note that I'm not saying HyperFlex didn't work.  It does, but in a different way than Nutanix.  HyperFlex consists of hardware acceleration to make UCS perform with HCI software, whereas Nutanix is all about moving function into software.

Well, after trying to make a go of it with HyperFlex for 7 years, Cisco has finally given up on the platform and announced the end of life for HyperFlex.  Cisco  has partnered up with Nutanix, which is the industry leader in HCI and has been since the start.  Which makes sense.  Why sell a product that customers weren't interested in buying when you could offer them a solution that customers love (Nutanix)?  

​So, now that Cisco has given you the word that there isn't a future for HyperFlex, what's your move?  Well, let us help.

Roundstone Solutions is one of Nutanix's primary focused partners in the Northern CA and NY/NJ markets.  We specialize in Nutanix; it's literally 80% of what we do.  We know the platform as well as the folks at Nutanix, and know how to help our Clients get the most from Nutanix.

Let us help you.  Call us at 925-324-1582 in Northern CA or 201-740-2190 in NY/NJ.  Or, email us at [email protected].  We'll get right back to you and will be more than happy to help you chart a course towards Nutanix.

​Your future is bright with Nutanix.