A growing cloud market has motivated many companies in the information technology support space to pivot from classic hardware to new software-led infrastructure and virtual systems. With its solid hyperconverged foundation and key partners, Nutanix Inc. is setting bold revenue and delivery goals for its cloud shift early on.

“Nutanix is making the claim that they’re an enterprise cloud company. How are they pursuing the relationship and capability with developer infrastructure team operations to make sure that they can kind of live up to that mantle?” asked Keith Townsend (@CTOAdvisor), principal at The CTO Advisor and guest host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio.

Townsend and co-host Stu Miniman (@stu) met up at Nutanix NEXT US in New Orleans to discuss the progress Nutanix has made toward enterprise cloud support and how the company will continue to transition as it battles competition from other established providers. (* Disclosure below.)

A bold approach to enterprise cloud

Nutanix aims to reach $3 billion in software revenue by 2021. Even with its growth and strong performance in the market, the company’s goals appear lofty considering its limited history in the software space. “They’re adding a thousand customers a quarter, which is great for an infrastructure company. For a software company, it’s not … blowing it out of the water,” Miniman said.

In an effort to reach that $3 billion goal and support its new cloud customers, the company announced a slew of new features and initiatives on day one of Nutanix .NEXT. “They made a lot of announcements today around Calm around Flow, around data-based management,” Townsend said. Nutanix also announced its support for the AIX operating systems.

While many businesses are taking a cautious approach to cloud migration until its technology has matured, Nutanix customers appear to hold a more optimistic perspective on digital transformation. “I was surprised at how open customers are about their journey, [and] … how they’re using Nutanix. [It’s a] much different atmosphere than the conferences that I’ve attended,” Townsend said.

Whether or not the company achieves its ambitious goals, it’s clear Nutanix is making an impression in the market. “While one part of the Nutanix is a lot of bravado … the customers that we’ve talked to said they have not ran into a more humble company. … They believe Nutanix is truly a partner in their journey towards cloud and delivering IT services,” Townsend concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Nutanix NEXT US event. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Nutanix NEXT US event. Neither Nutanix Inc., the event sponsor, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE