What good are decades-old hardware roots in the newfangled era of cloud and software-defined computing? Perhaps the old guard style of servicing customers is just what some young technology vendors lack.

“Rather than being a legacy provider protecting the status quo, we see ourselves as the challengers trying to shift the discussion to the future,” said Wilfredo Sotolongo (pictured, left), vice president of enterprise system sales at Lenovo Group Ltd.

Founded in 1984, Lenovo has recently veered from its PC and physical server base increasingly into software-defined terrain. It became an official original equipment manufacturer partner to Nutanix Inc. nearly two years ago.

Sotolongo joined Bob Wallace (pictured, right), vice president of channel, OEM and inside sales at Nutanix Inc., in an interview during the Nutanix .NEXT EU event in Nice France. They spoke to Stu Miniman (@stu), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio. (* Disclosure below.)

A straight answer for enterprises

Likewise, Nutanix is shifting higher into cloud and software from the hyperconverged infrastructure appliances it is best know for. Its aspiration to be more than HCI and virtual storage attracted Lenovo, according to Sotolongo. Lenovo recognizes the value in virtualizing not just servers and storage, but also networking, he added. It invested in software for its switches that allow it to virtualize all three in Nutanix implementations. This exclusive Lenovo offering gives Nutanix systems admins the choice to manage even the network.

Forward-looking innovation pairs well with Lenovo’s enterprise experience, Sotolongo pointed out. “We come from a heritage of enterprise-grade support,” he said.

Rather than giving enterprise customers a menu with everything but the kitchen sink, Lenovo actually offers an opinion. “I think it’s the right thing that serves the customers’ needs to be able to be a trusted adviser to the customer and not say, ‘I can offer you anything,’ but to say, ‘Here’s what I believe is the right solution for you,'” Wallace said.

The OEM partnership with Lenovo is helping Nutanix reach customers in distant global regions, as well as Fortune 500 companies. Without it, “a company the size that we’ve been over the last two years just couldn’t serve some areas of the world,” Wallace said.

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

Photo: SiliconANGLE