Nutanix Creates ‘First-Ever’ Global .NEXT Digital Event This Fall

Nutanix has set the date for its first-ever Global .NEXT Digital Experience conference that will combine its flagship Americas and EMEA events together.

Nutanix is combining its .NEXT Americas and .NEXT EMEA conferences to create the company’s first-ever Global .NEXT Digital Experience event for customers and channel partners as the coronavirus pandemic continues to transform many of the tech industry’s biggest events into digital versions.

Nutanix’s flagship .NEXT 2020 conference was initially expected to take place in Chicago from June 29 to July, but was changed last month to a virtual event due to the coronavirus pandemic. The company’s .NEXT EMEA conference was slated to take place in Paris later this year, but will now be combined with the America’s digital event, which will now taking place from Sept. 8 to Sept. 10.

“Due to the growing concern around the coronavirus (COVID-19), and in alignment with the best practices laid out by the CDC and WHO, Nutanix has decided to shift .NEXT 2020 in Chicago, IL & .NEXT EMEA in Paris to a digital environment,” said Nutanix in a statement. “We are transforming .NEXT into a multi-day event, connecting our attendees to Nutanix content through streamed keynotes, breakout sessions, interactive learning, and digital networking sessions with our experts and sponsor organizations.”

[Related: Nutanix Confirms Furloughs Of Nearly 1,500 Employees]

All currently registered attendees for both events will be automatically registered for the “first-ever” Global .NEXT Digital Experience and will have the option to defer their registration payment to a future conference, or receive a full refund of any fees paid, said Nutanix. Attendees who have registered for paid training will still have the option to take the training digitally.

More than 6,000 customers and partners attended Nutanix .NEXT 2019, which took place in Anaheim, Calif.

Last week, San Jose, Calif.-based Nutanix confirmed to CRN that it is furloughing a total of 1,465 employees in California, representing nearly 25 percent of the company’s worldwide headcount, due to “uncertain business conditions” stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. Nutanix has implemented two separate, one-week unpaid furloughs effecting at least 1,465 employees that will occur on a rolling basis from May 4 through July 26, followed by another round from Aug. 3 through Oct. 31.

In an interview with CRN, Nutanix CEO Dheeraj Pandey said the furloughing of its employees is a “reversible” move, not permanent, that was made to “minimize any customer service impact” amidst economic uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’ve thoughtfully taken steps to help minimize the long-term impact to our employees and our customers, given how incomplete the [COVID-19] information in front of us was,” said Pandey. “A furlough is reversible, a layoff is not. Period.”

Nutanix recently released preliminary revenue projects for its third fiscal quarter, which ended April 30, expecting revenues of approximately $315 million, up 9 percent year over year.

The hyperconverged software and hybrid cloud specialist is projecting software and support sales of $310 million, representing an increase of around 17 percent year over year, in line with prior guidance. Nutanix software and support billing is projected to be between $365 million and $385 million in the third quarter, up approximately 15 percent year over year.