Enterprise Containerization, it’s what’s for breakfast, lunch, and dinner now. For IT organizations, this fare is now mainly on the menu for modernization efforts as well as repatriation to stateful app containerization on premises. I discussed this in my last post regarding VMs and Containers running on the same platform here.
The alternatives from vendors are changing super fast and it’s more complex than ever with side dishes for virtualization.
Alternatives for IT Leaders Until Now
IT leaders have been deploying production-grade containerized workloads for years. They’ve used public cloud options, like Amazon EKS, Azure AKS, and Google GKE, or decided to manage an on-premises platform themselves with Red Hat OpenShift or an open-source DIY with Rancher (now SUSE Rancher) or other Kubernetes® (K8s) distribution. These were the main choices for years. IT leaders needing to order out or cook for themselves were central to the decision.
What’s Changing for These Alternatives?
Spoiler alert: Or maybe spoiled food alert. A lot of things are shifting with some things just getting shelved. OpenShift is still a clear leader in containerization but is now also looking at virtualization of VMs. Folks are considering what some might think has become a pretty ugly divorce from VMware by Broadcom. This is according to lots of commentary from bloggers and Reddit groups, like this one. In the middle of this, who really cares about the pantry? We do.
VMware by Broadcom has essentially ditched their hybrid, multi-cloud pitch for private cloud on premises with VCF and all but thrown out Tanzu for enterprise containerization. VCF now bundles together a more straightforward (at least in name) vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS) for containerization from its supervisor control plane. I’m not saying that Tanzu is a brown banana exactly but there’s something about this constant promote-retreat-reshuffle routine that smells familiar and has made VMware famous in this regard, in my opinion.
We all know that we can shift and recover from a vendor divorce, pantry included. But we’d be kidding ourselves if we didn’t acknowledge some aspects of this new competitive dynamic. Red Hat’s new pitch for virtualization as a production-grade solution and VMware by Broadcom’s shifting strategies have dramatically changed the competitive landscape.
Red Hat is trying to get the infrastructure workloads now with its VM virtualization solution based on KubeVirt, where before they were just interested in partnering with anyone for OpenShift Container Platform including VMware, us at Nutanix, and of course in the public cloud offerings. OpenShift Container Platform can be installed almost anywhere but now Red Hat is pitching bare metal. Just ask our field teams at Nutanix when they encounter Red Hat counterparts trying to compete for the same workloads as us. I know because I do ask them in my role at Nutanix. Do you blame the Red Hat sellers?
You can also take a peek at some potentially lively discussions of what is going on here from a long time advocate/critic of the competitive landscape here.
Everyone Can Play
There’s room for all of us. Some solutions are working well for customers so let’s be focused on choices for the customers as we advocate for our own solution when it makes sense. We’re still ok with running OpenShift on our Nutanix hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI). Rancher, now part of SUSE, continues to evolve as an open-source containerization platform. Rancher is also an ideal candidate to run on Nutanix infrastructure. Both OpenShift and Rancher provide the compute layers and we can provide the storage. We also have a formidable compute layer now too with our Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP) solution. We can also run lots of workloads on VMware VMs in our HCI environments. You can even run NKP on VMware in our HCI environments.
The Bottom Line for Alternatives
This shuffling has caused IT organizations to look for alternatives to both infrastructure virtualization software AND containerization. Many selling partners for all the vendors are also working out alternatives to their sales motions. Alternative solutions are trending for sure, especially on partner web pages and blogs. Just search for “alternatives to VMware” or “alternatives to OpenShift or Rancher” and see what you get. Use your favorite AI tool like Copilot or ChatGPT. Alternatives is the key search term that seems to be trending to draw people into their solutions.
You might not get NKP for containerization in that alternative key word search so that is why we need to talk about this here and now 🙂 (We want to get ourselves in more of the rankings, duh.)
Why NKP Belongs in the Conversation
Our Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP) solution came from a platform (as many of you might know already) called D2IQ that has put so much gear under the Nutanix hood. Now with us, D2IQ was running enterprise-grade containerization for many big IT organizations for several years and for government contracts. Ask Edward Jones or the US Air Force or Navy. Both are long term publically known D2IQ customers with many more as generic references for privacy.
So here's the deal: NKP isn't some engineering investment project or startup tool. It’s a seasoned enterprise-grade Kubernetes platform originally built by D2iQ and now enhanced and integrated under the Nutanix ecosystem.
And for many customers, especially those already invested in Nutanix (or looking to replace VMware without replacing their entire stack), NKP might just be the best alternative they haven’t considered—yet.
5 Top Reasons to Choose NKP as a First Choice or Cloud Native Alternative
- Unified Platform for VMs and Containers: Run Kubernetes and legacy workloads side-by-side using the same infrastructure, management tools, and security model — without Red Hat’s KubeVirt tax or Rancher's multi-tool mosaic.
- Freedom from Vendor Lock-In: NKP is agnostic in many ways. You’re not tied to RHEL, SUSE, or any single cloud. Choose your OS, your storage, your cloud — and run NKP consistently across all of them.
- Enterprise-Ready from Day 1: NKP brings the battle-tested power of D2iQ (formerly Mesosphere DC/OS) backed by Nutanix’s enterprise support, lifecycle automation, and consistent experience from core to edge.
- Flexible Deployment and Simpler Operations: Skip the “install and hope it fits” journey that some vendors have that require multiple other vendors across compute, storage, and protection layers. NKP works natively with Nutanix and is ready to deploy on any infrastructure without needing to retool your entire stack.
- Cloud-Native Economics and Simplicity: Avoid the multiple variations in price tags and platform sprawl of Red Hat and Rancher. NKP delivers Kubernetes at scale without initially having to pile on licensing complexity or operational overhead from multiple vendors to set up an enterprise platform.
Table of Comparison Features
Who doesn’t love a table of features to keep the conversation lively! My last post did exactly that on Linkedin a few weeks ago here. In the table we did not give credit for Red Hat hypervisor virtualization because we meant production grade like they used to do when they installed Red Hat on VMware or in public cloud environments, and of course us.
Let’s have a look at this table that will be sure to show up in a future LinkedIn post to keep those conversations going. Consider these points as ways to start a conversation as there will be different interpretations and frames of reference to consider for each one of them. This is a best effort based on available research.
| Category | Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP) | Red Hat OpenShift | SUSE Rancher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deployment Flexibility | Multi-cloud, hybrid, edge, on-prem, fully infra-agnostic | Designed to run best on RHEL and bare metal; strong but opinionated footprint | Runs across clouds and on-prem but typically requires SUSE stack or custom DIY |
| Infrastructure Integration | Native integration with AHV, NCI, Objects, Files, etc. (runs + optimizes on Nutanix) | Add your own VM layer unless using OpenShift Virtualization | Multi-cluster Kubernetes mgmt, but not deeply infra-aware or unified like NKP |
| VM + Container Support | Unified platform for virtualized + containerized workloads | Optional VM management via KubeVirt (OCP virtualization) | Focus on Kubernetes mostly with VM management through KVM |
| Enterprise Kubernetes Maturity | D2iQ lineage + enhanced by Nutanix ecosystem and lifecycle automation | Mature stack with robust security, ecosystem, certified add-ons | Lightweight and flexible, with newer enterprise support + licensing |
| Lock-In Risk | No OS lock-in, no cloud dependency — runs where you need it | Strong RHEL and Red Hat ecosystem tie-in; KubeVirt makes it harder to avoid dependency | SUSE stack preferred; recently shifting strategy post-acquisition |
| Ease of Use | Easy install, lifecycle automation, familiar Nutanix Ops experience | Complex install depending on infra; easier if cloud-managed | DIY-friendly, but hands-on ops can be heavy |
| Ideal For | Enterprises modernizing on Nutanix, moving from VMware, or requiring hybrid/edge + app freedom | Organizations deep in RHEL ecosystems or needing certified Red Hat integrations | Customers needing multi-cluster open-source Kubernetes management |
If you would like to see a demo of how this all works, check out this short video posted on LinkedIn just last month here.
If you want to try it yourself, click here.
Of course, this is not the only reason that the Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP) stands out. With recognition in the Forrester Wave 2025 and Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ 2025, Nutanix is a force in cloud native VMs and containerization and we’re playing to win.
To find out more check out the following:
- Nutanix Cloud Native Community
- Nutanix University: NKP Playlist
- Simplify Cloud Native Kubernetes Management
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