Rajiv Ramaswami: ‘The Market Is Coming To Us’

Nutanix’s new CEO, Rajiv Ramaswami, understands that the hyperconverged software star will not be able to scale and take market share from competitors without its channel partners.

“We value the channel a lot because, really, that is the only way we can scale. We don’t have a massive internal sales engine like some of our bigger competitors might have,” said Ramaswami in an interview with CRN. “We are completely dependent on the channel.”

Ramaswami said Nutanix is doubling down on channel investments and enablement such as streamlining the deal registration process, increasing partner-led opportunities and elevating services sales to the next level with company’s recently launched Elevate Partner Program.

“I want our channel partners to be self-sufficient in terms being able to close deals and being able to close transactions without requiring Nutanix sales reps in the process,” he said. “By simplifying this, channel partners can go off and transact independently -- that should help us scale and it should also help increase velocity for our partners.”

Ramaswami became CEO of Nutanix in December, following a five-year stint as VMware’s global Chief Operating Officer for Products and Cloud Services. With more than 30 years of IT executive experience, Ramaswami believes channel partners are the answer to scaling Nutanix to new heights. In an interview with CRN, Ramaswami talks about his channel strategy, simplifying Nutanix’s product portfolio and why VMware partners should start selling Nutanix.