VMworld security asked to probe theft of anti-Nutanix schwag

Scandal has struck VMworld 2017 this week: hyperconverged software vendor Maxta says someone stole marketing material in which it was less than kind to rival Nutanix.

Maxta's chief marketing officer Barry Phillips told The Register that parties unknown entered the staff-only section of its VMworld stand and that after their visit, more than 200 badges bearing the slogan “You can't have it your way with Nutanix” were nowhere to be found.

Maxta is running a promotion to win a Harley Davidson motorcycle at the Las Vegas shindig, and Phillips says the speaker barking out Harley engine noises to attract passersby was also sabotaged.

Maxta has therefore asked security at the Mandalay Bay conference centre, the venue for VMworld 2017, to review CCTV footage in the hope of finding the culprit.

Nutanix sells hyperconverged appliances that bundle servers and storage into a single box. Maxta prefers to sell a hyperconverged software stack, then let you choose the servers on which you run that software.

There's clearly competitive tension between the two companies and therefore a clear motive for the badges to be taken out of circulation. Although with more than 20,000 people are at VMworld, taking 200 badges out of circulation would hardly represent a stunning act of guerrilla marketing.

Nutanix has responded to our inquiries with a "no comment". We will follow up with Maxta to see if their inquiries yield any results. ®