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Microsoft Azure VMware vs Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 15, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Azure VMware
Ranking in Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructur...
Ranking in Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms
4th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
200
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Storage (SDS) (6th), HCI (5th), Software Defined Data Center (SDDC) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure VMware is 3.4%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) is 8.2%, up from 5.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)8.2%
Microsoft Azure VMware3.4%
Other88.4%
Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2387976 - PeerSpot reviewer
Pre-sales consultant at a engineering company with 10,001+ employees
Streamline data center migration to the cloud with efficient workload management
Azure VMware needs to cater to smaller enterprises, as it is currently meant for larger entities. One improvement could be more support for mid-sized or scalable environments. The licensing policy could be more flexible to accommodate smaller workloads, as the current setup suits only larger public sector entities. Additionally, some roadblocks during migration are a work in progress.
OB
Head Systems Administration/Security at Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System PLC
Infrastructure efficiency has improved significantly with quick server provisioning, though physical to virtual migrations need a streamlined in-house tool
From my experience with Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI), there is one area that needs improvement. When moving a critical infrastructure from a physical machine to Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI), we currently have to use a third-party tool to convert the physical machine to a VM. We have to use VMware converter to perform this conversion before moving it to Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI). I would suggest that Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) should develop their own P2V (physical to VM) tools instead of requiring users to rely on third-party solutions.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Regarding stability, it is like a five-star solution."
"The integration is very good."
"The capabilities are like a lift-and-shift operation for moving existing VMware environments to the cloud. The time for migration onto the cloud has substantially reduced."
"For new users, if you have a scalable environment where a VMware data center makes sense for your business, I definitely recommend AVS."
"Ability to create multiple VMs."
"I can use VMware or Hyper-V license, if I already have. But if I use a similar solution as Nutanix Acropolis hypervisor (AHV) that comes embedded in Nutanix solution, I can manage all my virtual environments with everything I need without spend more money on licenses."
"Maintenance is not required for Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure"
"One major thing that comes up again and again is stability. Our downtime is literally based on hardware upgrades that need to be done. Acropolis is very, very user friendly. You don't have to physically have a super IT guy to manage the system. You can actually give it to a younger guy to manage and there won't be problems. And if he makes a mistake, it's very, very easy to fall back and sort out the mistake."
"One of the most valuable features that can be found, is the inclusion of a hypervisor for free."
"The simplicity when it comes to building your own automation has been excellent."
"The features that I have found most valuable include its HA facility, viability, robustness, flexibility, it's time to go live is very short, and it has a friendly user interface."
"Management is simple"
 

Cons

"The only issue is that a small challenge was found regarding the network...to have extended, smooth VLANs and everything else was a little bit complicated."
"Azure VMware needs to cater to smaller enterprises, as it is currently meant for larger entities. One improvement could be more support for mid-sized or scalable environments."
"Well, sometimes they release product after product, so it's it's kind of hard to keep an overview of all the different aspects of of the solutions."
"Azure VMware needs to cater to smaller enterprises, as it is currently meant for larger entities."
"Storage utilization and optimization should be better."
"It is a CentOS-based operating system, but CentOS releases security patches almost every week or every other week. However, Nutanix releases their upgrade at three or four month intervals. According to my organization's SLA, if a critical patch is released during that time, then I need to implement the patches within 30 days. If it is a standard patch, then I need to patch it within 60 days. Since that is my SLA, I cannot meet my SLA for security because Nutanix will not release the upgrade within these 30 days. Between the critical patch release and the Nutanix release, my customers say they are vulnerable and I am accepting the risk while the SLA is breached."
"Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure can be improved in terms of the sizing of the solution."
"One disadvantage of Nutanix Acropolis AOS is it doesn't support external storage. Connecting external SAN storage to Nutanix, it's not supported."
"The one note of improvement I have for Nutanix is that the installation should be easier."
"The product requires a lot of resources."
"The file services that they also provide need some more features, like on the Windows file server."
"We'd like to have more resource management."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The mandatory requirements, such as a minimum of three nodes, make it expensive. The customers need to sign up for approximately $20,000 per month."
"To be honest, the tool comes at a high price."
"The solution is very competitive."
"The solution could be a little less expensive."
"Nutanix price is high because it bundles all the components into single deals rather than allowing you to select the features that you want/will use."
"We are aware of the pricing since we renew every year, at almost $100,000 per year."
"Pricing for Nutanix Acropolis AOS is higher. This is one of the reasons why we were looking into other options."
"Able to grow with smaller, more linear increments of investment"
"The licensing costs are a bit expensive but when you compare the features, it's reasonable."
"I think it's cheaper than VMware in terms of cost."
"The pricing of Nutanix is not cheap but there are options available."
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms solutions are best for your needs.
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Comparison Review

it_user244362 - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Consultant with 51-200 employees
Aug 30, 2015
Nutanix vs. VMware EVO:RAIL vs. FlexPod
Originally posted at www.storagegaga.com/dont-get-too-drunk-on-hyper-converged/ I hate the fact that I am bursting the big bubble brewing about Hyper Convergence (HC). I urge all to look past the hot air and hype frenzy that are going on, because in the end, the HC platforms have to be aligned…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
14%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Insurance Company
10%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business92
Midsize Enterprise77
Large Enterprise82
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure VMware?
The pricing is high, rated around nine to 9.5 out of ten. The mandatory requirements, such as a minimum of three nodes, make it expensive. The customers need to sign up for approximately $20,000 pe...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure VMware?
Azure VMware needs to cater to smaller enterprises, as it is currently meant for larger entities. One improvement could be more support for mid-sized or scalable environments. The licensing policy ...
How do I choose between Cisco Hyperflex HX Series and Nutanix Acropolis AOS?
Cisco HyperFlex HS series vs Nutanix Acropolis AOS Cisco HyperFlex gives extended hyper-convergence functions from core to edge and multi-cloud environments. It helps IT and OT teams deploy hyper...
What makes Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) worth using?
NCI is a product with many tools and services but the one that, in my opinion, makes it better than similar products and worth using, is the full-stack lifecycle management. This capacity allows u...
Have you received reliable help from Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure's support when you contacted them?
NCI is one of the best out there. For any software, no matter how good it is, technical support makes it or breaks it for me. You may have an amazing product but if there is not anyone to help you ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Nutanix Acropolis AOS, Nutanix AOS, Nutanix Acropolis
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
St. Lukes Health System, the City of Seattle, Yahoo! Japan, Sligro, Empire Life, Hyundai AUS, and many others.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Azure VMware vs. Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.