The new alliance allows customers to run Horizon on Nutanix’s cloud infrastructure, facilitating migration from VMware following its acquisition by Broadcom.
At the Nutanix Next 2025 event held in Washington, D.C., the company announced a strategic agreement with Omnissa, the VMware spin-off specializing in End User Computing (EUC), which will enable the operation of Horizon VDI on Nutanix’s AHV hypervisor.
Until now, Horizon—the virtual desktop solution from VMware—exclusively ran on VMware ESXi. However, the new partnership with Nutanix opens the door to more flexible environments, including on-premises data centers, private clouds, and public clouds, all managed from a unified platform. This marks a turning point for customers looking to reduce their dependency on VMware, especially following recent changes triggered by Broadcom’s acquisition of the company.
“Maybe ESX isn’t the only place to run Horizon. Maybe we should run it on another hypervisor… specifically on AHV,” stated Dave Gwyn, Global Channel Director at Nutanix.
A Response to VMware’s Shift
Since Broadcom acquired VMware, numerous companies have expressed their dissatisfaction with changes in licensing, support, and pricing. According to Gwyn, many customers—even those with infrastructures like Pure Storage—are seeking viable alternatives to ESXi. Nutanix is thus positioned as the most straightforward option for migrating without sacrificing performance or enterprise support.
The partnership with Omnissa enhances that value proposition. Now, Horizon users can take advantage of Nutanix’s hyper-converged infrastructure, gaining in performance, security, and management simplicity.
Implications for the Channel and Ecosystem
From XenTegra, a partner of both Citrix and Nutanix, they see the alliance with Omnissa as a key move for the EUC ecosystem. “We are leading with Nutanix. This integration gives customers more options for virtual desktops and VDI solutions,” said Les Roach, CRO of XenTegra.
With Citrix in the hands of investment funds and VMware under Broadcom’s control, the VDI solutions market is experiencing significant change. Many organizations are considering new paths, and AHV with Horizon is now one of them.
More Partnerships: Pure Storage and Dell Technologies
In addition to the agreement with Omnissa, Nutanix has reinforced its collaborations with manufacturers like Pure Storage and Dell Technologies. These partnerships aim to deliver a combined experience that maximizes the performance of intensive workloads such as artificial intelligence, without forcing customers to choose between their storage infrastructure and Nutanix.
The combination of Nutanix AHV, Pure FlashArray, and Dell’s PowerFlex on the Nutanix Cloud Platform is emerging as a powerful offering for those looking to leave the Broadcom ecosystem without forfeiting their current investments.
In summary, the landscape of virtualization and desktop infrastructure is undergoing a significant transformation. Nutanix, with its AHV hypervisor and expanding ecosystem, positions itself as one of the strongest alternatives for those seeking independence, performance, and control in the post-VMware-Broadcom era.