Cisco Piston Enterprise OS [EOL] vs Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) comparison

Cisco and Nutanix are both solutions in the Cloud Management category. Additionally, 100% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Nutanix users who would recommend it.

Cisco Piston Enterprise OS ...

Read 1 Cisco Piston Enterprise OS [EOL] review

100% willing to recommend

Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM)

Read 125 Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) reviews

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5,317 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Cisco Piston Enterprise OS ...

Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM)

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 10, 2025

Cisco Piston Enterprise OS EOL and Nutanix Cloud Manager NCM are competitors in cloud infrastructure with Nutanix NCM more versatile due to its comprehensive features while Cisco Piston offers favorable pricing and support.

Features: Cisco Piston Enterprise OS EOL provides robust scalability, seamless integration, and flexibility within existing infrastructures. Nutanix Cloud Manager NCM offers advanced automation, centralized management, and integrated security features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Nutanix Cloud Manager NCM ensures a simple and efficient deployment process accessible to users with limited expertise and efficient customer support through automation. Cisco Piston Enterprise OS EOL also allows straightforward deployment with notable support services requiring more user intervention.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Piston Enterprise OS EOL is recognized for its cost-effective pricing offering significant ROI for budget-conscious users. Nutanix Cloud Manager NCM may have a higher initial cost but provides enhanced ROI with its comprehensive features and operational efficiencies over time.

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Piston Enterprise OS ...

Average Rating

9.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM)

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

125

Ranking in other categories

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites (4th), Cloud Management (2nd), Virtualization Management Tools (2nd), Cloud Cost Management (2nd), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (6th)

Featured Reviews

Enterprise677

BS Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees

A simple interface and helpful support for a solution that grows with us

It's a flexible enough tool to submit the changes that you want. It gives you the ability to cancel any loop. You can connect new orchestrations together. It offers enough support so that you don't need to have the need to get another device. The user interface is simple and easy to use.

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Phani Venkata Sai BKD

Technology Lead at Thomson Reuters

Manages hybrid infrastructure seamlessly with flexible cluster scaling and comprehensive oversight

The most important aspect of Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) is that it helps us manage the infrastructure as a hyperconverged infrastructure in HCI mode. If I have different physical servers, I can map them into a cluster and manage the storage together. It provides flexibility to make use of storage in a clustered format instead of using it in an individual storage endpoint. We have the flexibility to have Nutanix-based licensing based on the core model, instead of having a specific cost on the cluster. The costing on a core model gives customers flexibility to add multiple cores to a single physical host and adjust the infrastructure accordingly, and we can scale up the cluster as needed. While other cloud providers, AWS or Azure, are mostly into cloud-based solutions, and Azure has introduced Azure Stack HCI for managing on-premises infrastructure, Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) provides flexibility from day one. We can manage both on-premises and Azure solutions using a single pane of glass, eliminating the need to navigate different windows or screens. It provides a comprehensive view of the infrastructure and highlights specific areas through alerts, giving us good visibility of infrastructure conditions.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"I strongly recommend the solution to people."

"It offers enough support so that you don't need to have the need to get another device."

"Nutanix Cloud Manager is a lot easier to set up compared to other products."

"There is less management for the team than before, so there is a complete gain of time. It freed up our staff's time for other work. This is something that is important for our company."

"Nutanix Cloud Manager is easier for technicians than VMware, so fewer people are needed to do the same tasks. It's critical because if we do things faster, we do them at a lower price, especially if we use fewer human resources."

"Nutanix is a company that cares about your experience and your thoughts and improving things."

"Nutanix Cloud Manager's runway features are a big help in predicting strategy for optimization."

"The 1-Click Centralized Upgrades are really nice. When you go in and want to upgrade your Cluster, you just click a button and everything will upgrade. You don't have to go to each individual server to do the upgrades."

"Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) serves as a single pane of glass to manage the entire infrastructure, letting you manage everything from there without needing to depend on multiple consoles, which effectively eliminates many silos."

"Since we switched to Nutanix, we have had fewer bottlenecks and issues during the big game nights."

More Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) pros

Cons

"The solution is just too expensive, so maybe the pricing could be better."

"We'd like the demos to be longer - maybe two to three months. Some clients need much more time for a POC."

"We have faced some issues during operations, but when we log a case with Nutanix support, they help us to resolve them."

"You can set up DHCP but it's a little bit clunky. I wish they would streamline and centralize the management of DHCP."

"When we tried to migrate an application from the old cluster, we couldn't run it on Nutanix’s native hypervisor."

"The licensing procedures are not smooth and easy."

"Nutanix has room for improvement around the partner tools and making them approachable and easier to learn."

"There are some cases when there are multiple alerts for the same issue. For example, if I forget to put it in hosting maintenance mode, then I start getting multiple, duplicate alerts for the same host, which we don't want."

"Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) can be improved as the NKP product needs to mature a little more."

More Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"We have the ultimate license, so I don't know what it would cost individually."

"The solution is a bit high in price for what we are receiving as features. I feel they are overcharging us at approximately 25 percent. That is something that they should change."

"In my opinion, the pricing is reasonable."

"I think it can be more cost-effective."

"Nutanix Cloud Manager's pricing is fair at the moment."

"The pricing was quite competitive and a lot lower compared to other solutions. It wasn't cheap, but it was not as expensive."

"It is a nightmare to keep up with all the licensing. I would prefer everything to be in one price."

"It is expensive when you are looking at small locations that need low-latency workloads, but for larger locations, as compared to other guys, even using VMware, it is not that expensive because if you add it all up, it is going to be pretty much the same value."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Marketing Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	28
Midsize Enterprise	26
Large Enterprise	75

Questions from the Community

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Which set of Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) features do you find to be the most useful?

For me, the features related to cost savings are the best part of NCM. Of course, the whole product is worth using and when it comes to cloud management, there is a reason why it is favored by so m...

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Are the setup process and further maintenance of Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) difficult?

When I came into my current organization, NCM was already set up. According to the team that dealt with it, the product was fairly easy to set up. Compared to other products, our IT rates are set u...

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Is Nutanix Cloud Manager’s Intelligent Operations feature effective?

Yes, this is a highly effective feature and the rebranding only made things better as they introduced more improvements. You can benefit from Zero coding task automation Automated optimization Tic...

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Comparisons

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VMware Aria Operations vs Cisco Piston Enterprise OS [EOL]

Compared 14% of the time

HPE OneSphere vs Cisco Piston Enterprise OS [EOL]

Compared 6% of the time

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VMware Aria Operations vs Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM)

Compared 7% of the time

VMware Cloud Director vs Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM)

Compared 6% of the time

VMware Aria Automation vs Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM)

Compared 6% of the time

Morpheus vs Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM)

Compared 5% of the time

Nutanix Prism vs Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM)

Compared 5% of the time

More Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cloud Management

May 2026

Download Cisco Piston Enterprise OS [EOL] product report

Buyer's Guide

Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM)

April 2026

Download Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) product report

Also Known As

Piston Enterprise OS

Nutanix Cloud Manager Intelligent Operations, Nutanix Cloud Manager Self-Service, Nutanix Cloud Management Cost Governance, Nutanix Cloud Manager Security Central, Nutanix Software Subscription

Overview

Piston Enterprise OS (pentOS) is an enterprise grade cloud operating system meeting the security and governance needs of enterprises wanting to use OpenStack for their infrastructure services. pentOS is an OpenStack distro that builds on top of the OpenStack codebase adding some proprietary features to meet the security and governance needs of the enterprise customers.

Cisco

Nutanix Cloud Manager streamlines hybrid cloud management by offering centralized control, automation, and workload optimization across platforms. It improves operational efficiency while reducing IT management complexity.

Nutanix Cloud Manager is designed for comprehensive hybrid cloud governance, providing tools for virtualization, resource allocation, and compliance. Its features include one-click upgrades, dynamic dashboards, and the seamless automation of tasks through X-Play. Users can efficiently manage virtual machines, ensure secure storage, and enhance productivity with predictive monitoring. Self-service capabilities allow users to reserve resources easily, while central management via Prism Pro and automated reports enhance oversight and decision-making. Challenges include UI simplicity, pricing transparency, and licensing efficiency, with users seeking improvements in VM organization, blueprint customization, and collaborative support for hybrid environments.

What important features define Nutanix Cloud Manager?

One-click Upgrades: Simplifies the process of updating and maintaining systems.
Intuitive Interface: Offers a user-friendly experience with a low learning curve.
Prism Pro: Central management for streamlined control over environments.
Dynamic Dashboards: Provides real-time insights and monitoring capabilities.
X-Play Automation: Facilitates seamless and efficient task automation.
Capacity Planning: Assists in optimal resource allocation and future growth planning.
Compliance Monitoring: Ensures adherence to industry standards and policies.
Efficient VM Management: Enhances control and monitoring of virtual machines.
Self-service Capabilities: Empowers users to manage and allocate resources independently.
Cost Governance: Allows organizations to maintain budgetary control and efficiency.

What benefits should be considered when evaluating Nutanix Cloud Manager?

Enhanced Productivity: Streamlines tasks and improves efficiency through automation.
Predictive Monitoring: Proactively addresses potential issues before they impact operations.
Robust Disaster Recovery: Provides reliable solutions to recover data and maintain continuity.
Automated Reports: Generates timely insights for informed decision-making.
Unified Cloud Management: Offers comprehensive control across multiple environments.

Nutanix Cloud Manager finds utility in industries requiring robust hybrid cloud strategies like finance, healthcare, and manufacturing. It excels in centralizing management for secure and compliant operations, optimizing workloads, and providing scalable solutions for resource allocation and compliance monitoring, thus enhancing cloud operations in diverse markets.

Nutanix

Sample Customers

Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

JetBlue, International Speedway Corporation, Volkswagen SAIC, Brighton and Hove City Council, Foresters Financial, Janus International Group, Cloud Comrade, Serco

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