Nutanix has announced that its Nutanix Cloud Platform will now support Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop in hybrid environments. This development, unveiled at Microsoft Ignite 2025, enables organisations to deploy Azure Virtual Desktop on-premises using the Nutanix AHV hypervisor, providing greater flexibility in virtual desktop deployment and management.
The initiative addresses the evolving needs of distributed workforces and offers IT teams a broader range of infrastructure options. It aims to enhance control, performance, security, and cost efficiency, while maintaining a hybrid workspace.
Nutanix Cloud Platform
According to Tarkan Maner, Chief Commercial Officer at Nutanix, "The Nutanix Cloud Platform delivers a performant, resilient, cost-efficient, and secure infrastructure base for virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) workloads."
He added that the collaboration with Microsoft will provide customers expanded choices for modernising on-premises and expanding into hybrid cloud environments.
Addressing compliance and regulatory needs
Azure Virtual Desktop in hybrid settings helps organisations in sectors like financial services, healthcare
Azure Virtual Desktop in hybrid settings helps organisations in sectors like financial services, healthcare, and government to meet compliance and regulatory standards, particularly around data residency and sovereignty.
Users will be able to operate Azure Virtual Desktop locally on Nutanix AHV while utilising the Azure Virtual Desktop brokering and management features via Azure Arc-enabled servers for secure Azure connectivity.
Advantages of Azure Virtual Desktop
The integration of Azure Virtual Desktop in Nutanix AHV hybrid environments provides several benefits, including hybrid flexibility, allowing for a blend of on-premises performance with Azure's scalability for burst capacity and disaster recovery.
It offers native Microsoft applications support, including optimisations for Microsoft 365, Teams, Microsoft Entra, and security services. The platform is designed for high performance, particularly beneficial for latency-sensitive and graphics-intensive tasks, and promotes cost efficiency by leveraging existing Microsoft and Nutanix infrastructure.
Nutanix and Azure Virtual Desktop integration
The integration of Azure Virtual Desktop in Nutanix AHV hybrid environments provides several benefits
Scott Manchester, Vice President of product for Windows 365 and Azure Virtual Desktop at Microsoft, stated, "Azure Virtual Desktop is built to deliver a secured, scalable, and deeply integrated experience with Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams, and Windows."
He adds, "Nutanix support for Azure Virtual Desktop will give customers more choice, whether they deploy in the cloud or on-premises — without compromising on the modern security model or licencing efficiencies."
Expanding VDI possibilities
Nutanix is pushing the boundaries of virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), allowing organisations to customise their environments to align with business needs without being restricted to a single deployment model.
The support for Azure Virtual Desktop by Nutanix Cloud Platform is currently under development.
