SimpliVity is broadening the reach of its hyperconverged infrastructure, announcing today that its OmniStack software will be available on Huawei FusionServer hardware.

The deal gives SimpliVity another angle in the market as it continues to battle Nutanix.

SimpliVity offers a hyperconverged appliance — combining servers, storage, and a hypervisor — called OmniCube. But the company also pairs OmniStack, the software juice behind hyperconvergence, with servers from some big partners. Huawei joins a list that includes Cisco, Dell, and Lenovo.

What makes the Huawei deal interesting is the company's strength in emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, and Huawei's home base of China. This deal could give SimpliVity some leverage in developing those markets.

SimpliVity doesn't do OEM deals with its partners — meaning, companies like Cisco don't resell the company's gear. As SimpliVity officials told CRN in 2014, they're concerned that OEM deal would upset sales-channel partners.

Nutanix, on the other hand, has an OEM arrangement with Dell that just got extended to June 2021. The deal, signed two years ago, was originally set to expire in 2017.

Nutanix, which recently went public, is the market leader in hyperconverged infrastructure, and SimpliVity is generally considered as the No. 2 contender.