2025 Year in Review

calendar Dec 31, 2025 · 6 min read · Year in Review  ·
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Overview

2025 was a busy year. Between customer workshops, webinars, and a renewed focus on content creation, I spent more time than ever sharing knowledge and working directly with customers. I'm proud of how much I was able to write and share this year. Here's a quick look back on 2025.

On the Personal Side

The end of 2024 and start of 2025 brought with it the sale and transfer of the CrossFit gym that had become a family to us for almost a decade. It was bittersweet, but it gave my wife and I the ability to step back and jump into some other fitness hobbies we have. We made some great friends (and family) there over the years, and I miss that daily time we got to spend there.

We've doubled down on fitness together, both in the garage gym and out on the streets and trails. Looking ahead to 2026, we've already signed up for a 25k, 20-mile, and 30-mile events.

2025 was a big year for my wife and I, as we celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary and took a trip to one of our favorite vacation spots in the Dominican Republic in December - a much needed break on what seemed to be a fast paced year!

We've also been renovating a farmhouse we inherited in West Virginia. It's been equal parts headache and escape, but it's coming together nicely. And yes, it has fiber internet.

The Hugo Migration

I've migrated this blog before, from WordPress to Ghost, then back to WordPress. But the move to Hugo was different. It was something I'd been looking to do in 2024 but never got around to. Starting 2025, I made it a goal, and finally getting it done sparked a learning challenge I think I was yearning for.

Hugo forced me to get comfortable with Git and GitHub in ways I hadn't before. That hands-on experience has driven a growing interest in automation and DevOps that I expect to explore further in 2026. Sometimes a side project is exactly what you need to reignite curiosity.

Blog Highlights

My time and experience with the Nutanix NTC community has given me the motivation to share and write more. The biggest project was my 10-part Disaster Recovery series, covering everything from why DR matters to protection policies, testing, and automation.

Other posts included:

Conferences and Community

.Next 2025 in Washington DC had some major announcements including Omnissa Horizon on AHV and the Pure Storage partnership. I also celebrated 10 years as a Nutanix Technology Champion, which was a personal milestone.

Beyond the conference, 2025 gave me more direct 1:1 time with our sellers, helping navigate customer journeys during a year of significant industry disruption. Between Broadcom, AI, and tariffs, customers are rethinking their strategies, and it's been rewarding to be part of those conversations.

I was also able to continue spending time working with public safety organizations, assisting them with adopting and updating technology to support first responders with updated systems and platforms. I've had the privilege of having this as a focus for over a decade now, and I have met so many people that have become friends.

AI dominated the conversation in 2025, and that's not slowing down. But beyond the hype, AI is having real impacts on infrastructure. The demand for AI workloads is straining supply chains, particularly around RAM. Expect those shortages to drive higher hardware prices in 2026.

Broadcom's acquisition of VMware continues to push customers toward alternatives, and I've had more conversations about AHV migrations this year than any year prior. Tariffs add another layer of uncertainty, making budget planning a challenge for IT teams everywhere.

The Nutanix + Dell and Nutanix + Pure Storage partnerships announced this year will drive a lot of customer discussions in 2026, especially for those looking to optimize their environments, cut costs, and leverage the benefits of on-premises capabilities with cloud simplicity. I'm also excited to see Omnissa's Horizon move into the AHV space, and I'm watching closely to see how AVD does with AHV. High hopes there.

Connectivity will be a major theme in 2026 as well. Zero trust and secure connectivity are stepping up as organizations rethink how they protect their environments and users.

For those planning infrastructure investments in 2026, my advice is to start those conversations early. Lead times are getting longer, and pricing is unlikely to get more favorable.

I'm interested to see how Nutanix continues to capitalize on these trends in 2026. Nutanix GPT-in-a-Box and the broader Nutanix AI portfolio position the company well for organizations looking to run AI workloads on-premises. And with Broadcom continuing to drive VMware customers to evaluate alternatives, Nutanix has a real opportunity to grow its footprint. Looking forward to seeing what gets announced at .Next 2026 in Chicago.

What's Next for Me

In 2026, I want to become more fluent and comfortable with containers, Kubernetes, and other cloud-native technologies. With Nutanix's push into cloud-native through Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP) and the fact that Nutanix Enterprise AI is built on top of Kubernetes, it's an area I need to strengthen. It's definitely a weak spot for me right now, and I plan to rectify that.

While my 2025 home lab post was solid, adding three NVIDIA Tesla GPUs to the lab will bring the learning capabilities into 2026. That should help with the Kubernetes and AI exploration. The power bill increase? Well, that's the cost of curiosity.

Looking Ahead

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read what I put out there this year. Whether you stumbled across a post through a search, followed a link from a colleague, or have been a regular reader, I appreciate you. Writing helps me process what I'm learning, and knowing that it occasionally helps someone else makes it all the more worthwhile.

I'm excited for 2026. No new year's resolutions this time around. I've learned that resolutions tend to fade by February, so instead I'm just ready to tackle the year head-on and enjoy the opportunities as they come. There's plenty to look forward to: new technology to explore, customers to work with, races to run, and hopefully a few more posts to share along the way.

To all my coworkers at eGroup, thank you for yet another year of amazing interactions, fun road trips, and always rowing in the same direction. The work we do together makes the long days and late nights worth it.

To my customers, THANK YOU for allowing me to be part of your journey. Every conversation, every workshop, every late-night troubleshooting session is a reminder of why I love what I do. I don't take that trust for granted.

And to my wife, thank you for always supporting me. Between the travel, the time away from home, and the nights I worked longer than I probably needed to, you've been patient and encouraging through all of it. None of this happens without you in my corner.

What topics would you like to see in 2026? Reach out at mike@mikedent.io.