Hyperconverged Showdown: Cisco CEO Dismisses Nutanix Claims

As Cisco Systems and Nutanix prepare to lock horns in the hyperconverged market, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins hopes to make Nutanix eat its words.

Indeed, Nutanix VP Chris Morgan earlier this week downplayed the competitive threat posed by Cisco's HyperFlex Systems, alleging that Cisco has had "a history of false starts" when entering new markets.

Robbins' response? Instead of waging a war of words, Cisco's top executive calmly recounted the company's successful track record with new platform launches -- particularly UCS (unified compute system). He also recounted Hewlett-Packard's early dismissal of Cisco's server launch -- which ultimately became wildly successful.

The statements emerged during a Q&A with Robbins at Cisco Partner Summit 2016. Take a look:

Cisco Partners, Hyperconvergence and HyperFlex

Meanwhile, Cisco channel partners are gearing up for HyperFlex systems. True believers include Presidio CTO Vinu Thomas, who explained his company's converged and hyperconverged strategy during a Cisco Partner Summit panel session.

Take a look:

For deeper details about Cisco's announcements, check out our recap of Chuck Robbins' keynote.