Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Nutanix (NTNX) have signed a global partnership to deliver an integrated hybrid cloud as-a-service (aaS) solution.

Under the agreement, Nutanix’s Enterprise Cloud OS software will be delivered through HPE GreenLake ecosystem. Nutanix channel partners will also be able to directly sell HPE servers combined with Nutanix’s Enterprise Cloud OS software as an integrated appliance under the agreement.

Nutanix ANZ channel director Andrew Diamond said the HPE-Nutanix partnership has been designed to reduce cost and complexity for customers as they will be able to take advantage of consumption-based pricing via GreeLake.

“Today’s cloud market is beginning to crystallise into two primary camps. The first is limited choice, lock in and the second is choice and flexibility,” he told Telecom Times.

“We believe choice and flexibility was the promise of cloud to begin with, but it hasn’t lived up to it. Data gravity within public cloud environments, vendor lock-in and other issues businesses have had to deal with in the cloud have caused unnecessary pain and limitations for businesses.

“It is vital that leaders such as Nutanix and HPE champion the way to reduce that complexity and cost. This partnership is very much part of that journey we’re taking customers on.”

Nutanix said the combination of HPE GreenLake and Nutanix Enterprise Cloud OS software can be used for mission workloads and big data applications; virtualised tier-one workloads such as SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft; as well as support for virtualised big data applications, such as Splunk and Hadoop.

According to Diamond, the partnership announcement is “just one part of a much bigger strategy and picture for Nutanix”.

“Over the coming months we will have a number of announcements relevant to partners, customers and the wider industry, all centred on our overarching goal to enable hybrid cloud for businesses,” he said.

The Nutanix Enterprise Cloud OS software on HPE GreenLake and the integrated appliance utilising Nutanix software on HPE servers are expected to be available in calendar Q3 2019.