The EMC acquisition announcement has the enterprise IT world in a tizzy. Even Dell’s partners aren’t entirely sure what to make of it, but some are holding ground, saying they have something unique to offer. And Nutanix, Inc. is no different.

Bob Wallace, VP of OEM sales at Nutanix, sat down with Stu Miniman, cohost of theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, during Dell World 2015 to discuss his company’s partnership with Dell and how the EMC acquisition could possibly threaten that very alliance.

Nutanix and Dell

Nutanix is a relatively new start-up that’s got a strong partnership with Dell in the VDI space. Its specialty is providing hyperscaled VDI environments for big players, such as the FBI with whom Dell has a $28 million contract with. Wallace said that other federal agencies see this implementation between Dell and Nutanix and are considering getting in on the action too.

Not only are public entities looking for hyperscaled VDI, but so are large retailers, one of which is looking to move further workloads onto Dell XC hyperconverged infrastructure powered by Nutanix software, according to Wallace.

EMC’s VMware competition

theCUBE host Stu Miniman was quick to note that VMware, Inc., one of the better-known subsidiaries of EMC, provides a hyperconverged and hypervisor to customers in direct competition with Nutanix Acropolis, which provides similar functionality. Wallace was keen to mention that this is the new Dell and that Dell is going to look to offer its customers the best possible solutions and allow them to choose.

He believes Nutanix is ahead of what VMware has, and that’s borne out by the implementation and use of its hypervisor Acropolis. It will be key to watch as Dell merges sections of EMC and how it affects its partners and alliances.

Watch the full interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of Dell World 2015. And join in on the conversation by CrowdChatting with theCUBE hosts during Dell World 2015.

Photo by SiliconANGLE