Nutanix named a Challenger in 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for containers
Nutanix has been recognised as a Challenger in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Container Management for the first time.
This recognition comes after Nutanix introduced its Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP) last year, following the acquisition and integration of the D2iQ Kubernetes Platform.
The company has delivered its NKP solution as an enterprise option for managing cloud native applications across a diverse range of environments, including private datacentres, edge locations, and public clouds.
The NKP platform allows Nutanix's customers to operate both modern and traditional applications on a unified platform, with support for virtualised underlays, bare metal, or public cloud Kubernetes environments. This approach is focused on supporting customers' needs to deploy, manage and scale various application types across hybrid and multicloud infrastructures.
Recognition and focus
Lee Caswell, Senior Vice President Product and Solutions Marketing at Nutanix, commented on the company's inclusion in the Gartner Magic Quadrant. He stated:
"We're delighted to be recognised as a Challenger in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Container Management, which we believe is testament to our relentless focus on product innovation and customer success. Our open and complete NKP solution complements our existing portfolio both architecturally and in go-to-market execution, giving customers a seamless path to modernise their applications while simplifying operations across hybrid multicloud environments."
Nutanix developed the NKP platform to deliver a production-ready solution that supports container management in complex and hybridised IT environments. The company's aim is to provide an operating model that allows platform engineering teams to manage Kubernetes clusters securely and with less operational complexity, supporting a range of customers worldwide.
Customer adoption
Among the customers using Nutanix Kubernetes Platform are financial institutions and banks with requirements for consistent, secure and resilient application management.
Nutanix highlighted the example of Karnataka Bank in India, which is running a suite of business-critical applications on the Nutanix Cloud Platform (NCP), including customer-facing digital services and regulatory banking solutions.
The applications hosted on NCP by Karnataka Bank include mobile and internet banking, fraud and risk management systems, loan management, and a digital currency application required by the Reserve Bank of India.
Nutanix's continued support for Kubernetes enables the bank's IT team to meet both market and regulatory demands for responsive, secure applications.
Venkat Krishnan, CIO at Karnataka Bank, described the impact of Nutanix's platform:
"Our customers are digitally savvy, so this requires us to quickly roll-out and provide cloud native applications that are easy to use, can be easily updated, and are always available. Nutanix's platform, ability to support Kubernetes, and professional services enable us to deploy the applications required by the marketplace we serve and regulators."
Platform developments
Nutanix has also expanded its container-focused solutions with the recent introduction of its Cloud Native AOS solution.
This product extends Nutanix's enterprise data services and storage capabilities to public cloud Kubernetes services and to bare metal environments, addressing further needs for flexibility in hybrid IT deployment. The Cloud Native AOS solution is now generally available.
Nutanix states that customers around the world have adopted its NKP for an open, Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF)-compliant approach that supports faster innovation for platform engineering teams.
The company emphasises that NKP reduces operational complexity and enables easier monitoring and management of containers and Kubernetes workloads across hybrid environments.
Gartner's research for the Magic Quadrant for Container Management is widely cited in the enterprise IT sector as a benchmark for evaluating container management vendors' ability to execute and completeness of vision.
Nutanix's inclusion in the Challenger category reflects the company's efforts and recent developments in this area following the addition of the D2iQ platform and the ongoing expansion of its product portfolio in cloud native technologies.
