Cisco Unveils New 360 Partner Program: A Strategic Shift Towards AI and Value-Based Partnerships

Celebrating Connections and Launching the New Cisco 360 Partner Program

What an incredible week we had in Los Angeles at Cisco Partner Summit 2024! It was fantastic to connect with so many partners and colleagues, sharing ideas and building relationships that drive our collective success. Thank you to everyone who participated -- whether in person or virtually. Your dedication brought us here, and your continued support will keep us moving forward on this exciting journey. Forward as One was our theme this year, focused on how we deliver customer value together and how we connect and protect customers in the AI era. The resounding message throughout the week was that by leveraging the entire ecosystem, we are empowered to create exceptional customer experiences -- together. Chuck Robbins, our Chair and CEO, said it well: "We are at a major inflection point as our customers are feeling relentless pressure to deploy AI infrastructure. They need our expertise and technology more than ever, and strong partnerships are critical to their success." At Partner Summit, we unveiled the new Cisco 360 Partner Program -- one ecosystem, shared success. This program was built with input from over 1,000 hours of feedback from partners, customers, and industry analysts. It builds on our rich hardware and networking legacy while evolving with today's shift to software, subscriptions, and services. The program supports all types of partner models, focusing on what matters most -- driving value through go-to-market strategies, building capabilities, and engaging deeply with customers. Its portfolio-based framework ensures partners grow with us as we innovate. The Cisco 360 Partner Program reflects global impact, agility, and simplicity -- and most importantly, it represents our commitment to working together and winning as one ecosystem. Let me break it down into the three things that matter most: Money. Time. And relationships. For those of you who have built relationships with Cisco, your investment is protected. We will provide you with tools and resources to achieve predictable profitability, providing stability and long-term success. You will also have plenty of time to transition. With 15 months to adjust -- before the new program takes effect on February 1, 2026 -- you can move at your own pace with confidence. Most importantly, this program is built with you at the center, aligning with your needs and supporting your growth for years to come. The Cisco 360 Partner Program introduces the Partner Value Index, a new framework for measuring your contribution across four dimensions: This approach ensures that your unique strengths -- whether in Security, Networking, Collaboration, Cloud & AI, Services and Observability, and/or across multiple portfolios -- are recognized and rewarded. We want to highlight the investments and capabilities that set you apart. That is why we are introducing two new designations: Cisco Partner and Cisco Preferred Partner; and will be sunsetting the existing Gold, Premier and Select levels. These new designations reflect your strengths and commitment to excellence. We are also investing in them to ensure customers recognize their value -- making it clear why they should choose you as their partner. All partner anniversary dates for current roles, levels, and the Customer Experience Specializations will be extended to February 1, 2026. During the transition period, if you achieve a new role, level, or Customer Experience Specialization, your anniversary date will be set to February 1, 2026, regardless of when that credential is earned. The shift from traditional Architecture Specializations to Solution-based Specializations will continue as we transition to the Cisco 360 Partner Program. We will develop next gen Specializations that will allow you to differentiate your technical expertise either more deeply into one specific portfolio or across portfolios; going forward, these specializations will be available to our Cisco Preferred Partners. We have some exciting immediate steps available to you: We are excited to announce the first AI focused specialization. The Cisco AI-Ready Infrastructure Solution Specialization was designed to meet demand for advanced Cisco AI infrastructure solutions, delivered by expert Cisco partners. This new specialization positions you to deliver business outcomes that matter most today. For Managed Service Providers (MSPs), we have also added two new Cisco Powered Services Specializations: These will help you meet growing market demand for security-focused managed services, while driving growth with differentiated solutions. Finally, we encourage you to get trained in the latest Security & Observability solutions available in the current Cisco Partner Program and Splunk Partnerverse. To support your investments, we are excited to announce cross-program partner specializations. These specializations, available on November 20, 2024, will protect Splunk partners' investments and allow Cisco partners to expand their expertise and reach more customers. To enhance your profitability and competitiveness, we are boosting our range of benefits offered. You will benefit from a mix of upfront discounts and back-end rebates aligned to the value you bring to customers. As we already announced at Partner Summit '23, our flagship rebates -- VIP, Lifecycle Incentives, and Cisco Services Partner Program (CSPP) -- will roll into the new Cisco Partner Incentive, offering the same rewards with a more streamlined approach. We have expanded the Customer Assessment Incentive to cover Networking and Collaboration, in addition to Security. These proactive assessments not only identify new opportunities but also increase customer loyalty and accelerate deal approvals. The Perform Plus program now offers even more ways to earn, with increased payout levels and rewards for growth across architectures and midmarket customers. Lifecycle Incentives also continues to evolve, adding new incentives for Enterprise Networking, Security, and Data Center, plus new Customer Experience use cases like Duo. We have simplified tracking with a new single-step view in Funds Manager, making it easier to predict earnings. Over the next 15 months, we will roll out the program in a phased approach starting with a focus on the Security portfolio and providing deeper insights into your organization's value index. Then we will roll out additional indices for Collaboration, Networking, Cloud & AI, Services, and Observability -- all accessible on Partner Experience Platform (PXP). The Cisco 360 Partner Program reflects everything we have heard from you -- your insights, challenges, and ambitions. We know that predictable growth fuels your ability to innovate, invest, and create meaningful outcomes for customers. And we are committed to your profitability, providing the tools and resources you need to unlock new opportunities. I look forward to connecting with many of you in the coming months through advisory boards, events, and one-on-one conversations. For more details, visit the new 360 Partner Program page to find a wealth of resources and registration links for upcoming webinars on the Cisco 360 Partner Program. You can also email askpartnerprogram@cisco.com with feedback and questions. And, if you missed my breakout session BIS 05 at Partner Summit -- or want to watch it again -- check it out on November 12 when it goes live on the Partner Launch Experience platform. Together, we will go beyond meeting customer expectations -- we will exceed them! Not sure we want to guarantee this profitability forecast, esp in writing? We'd love to hear what you think. Ask a Question, Comment Below, and Stay Connected with #CiscoPartners on social!

Cisco Unveils New Cisco 360 Partner Program to Accelerate Value and Innovation, Launching in 2026

Will transform how Cisco and its Partners create, deliver, and capture value in the age of AI. Cisco 360 Partner Program: connects partners' success to how they meet customers' needs and ambitions as they modernize their infrastructure, power AI workloads anywhere, and keep their organizations secure, resilient, and high-performing.Simplified, elevated, comprehensive: the new program encourages collaboration across the partner ecosystem and elevates partners' stature with customers through a simplified partner experience.Investment in Partners: New $80 million investment in training to support development of partners' skills and tools. CISCO PARTNER SUMMIT, LOS ANGELES, CA, October 29, 2024 - Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking and security, today announced the most significant evolution of its industry-leading partner program in nearly three decades. The new Cisco 360 Partner Program is designed to accelerate the value partners bring to customers by better addressing their rapidly evolving and complex needs -- modernizing infrastructure, powering AI workloads anywhere, and keeping customers' organizations secure, resilient, and high-performing. Developed in collaboration with partners and customers, Cisco will guide them through a 15-month transition period leading up to the program's launch in February 2026. Strategic Shift for a Competitive Market The new program reflects a strategic shift in how Cisco and its partners create and deliver value for their customers in today's fast-paced, competitive market. The program will redefine what it means to be a successful Cisco partner measuring value over transactions: how partners serve the needs and ambitions of their customers while harnessing the collective strength of Cisco's partner ecosystem in ways that drives growth. The program will elevate partners' stature with customers and upgrade the partner experience with simplified processes and new ways to plan and track performance. $80 Million Skills Investment: A First Step in a Transformed Partner Experience Cisco announces the first of its tangible enhancements to the partner experience with a $80 million investment into new partner initiatives to boost skills and provide the tools needed to compete in the market. $60 million of that investment will support qualified partners with benefits including all-access Cisco U. subscriptions for skill development and certification. An additional $20 million will fund quarterly training events for all partners, focusing on AI, security, and networking through self-paced learning, hands-on labs, and continuing education credits. "Today, it's about helping customers unlock the power of technology to achieve their business outcomes. That's the foundation of the Cisco 360 Partner Program. Whether through lifecycle practices, technical capabilities, or managed services, partners can drive profitable growth with our new value-based program. With a 15-month transition, partners have time to prepare and maximize their potential in Cisco 360 Partner Program," said Rodney Clark, Senior Vice President of Partnerships and Small and Medium Business at Cisco. Cisco 360 Partner Program will include: Redefining Partner Value: a simplified framework that recognizes the diverse ways partners add value to customers. This approach will measure the value partners deliver within specific portfolios or across multiple portfolios, rewarding partners on how their business model supports lifecycle and managed services, skills investment, customer base expansion, and engagement across the customer journey and partner ecosystem. Qualified partners will gain access to a broad range of benefits like the Cisco Partner Incentive and other non-financial benefits. Elevating Partner Stature: to simplify and improve our partners' value proposition and awareness with customers, Cisco is moving to two designations: Cisco Partner and Cisco Preferred Partner. Partners can earn these designations for each portfolio, such as Security or Networking, giving partners the ability to be recognized and market themselves as a Cisco Preferred Security Partner or a Cisco Preferred Networking Partner. Future of Specializations: Cisco will continue to help partners differentiate their market position by developing deep expertise in specific or across multiple portfolios. The new program will continue to shift from traditional Architecture Specializations to Solution-Based Specializations, and ultimately to next generation specializations that will be accessible to Preferred Partners only. Cisco also announced today its first specialization focused on AI -- the Cisco AI-Ready Infrastructure Solution Specialization -- to position partners as experts in delivering AI-ready infrastructure, security, and observability solutions and services to customers throughout their AI adoption journey. Supporting Partners in the Transition The Cisco 360 Partner Program will fully transition in February 2026. The rollout will be gradual, with new elements introduced and piloted to keep partners and distributors informed and supported throughout the process. Current levels, roles, and lifecycle practice investments will be recognized until the program is fully implemented, ensuring partner investments are protected. Quotes "To further strengthen what is already a world-class partner ecosystem, this new program allows us to recognize and reward successful partners and better address the evolving needs of our customers," shared, Elisabeth De Dobbeleer, Senior Vice President, Cisco Partner Program. "Our goal is to transform partner success, elevate Cisco partners, and upgrade the partner experience to align with Cisco's strategic vision." "We are excited about the launch of the Cisco 360 Partner Program, which represents the culmination of our long-standing and collaborative relationship with Cisco," said Steve Bland, Group Alliance, Director at Computacenter. "Having worked closely with Cisco on the development of this innovative program, we are confident that it will significantly enhance our ability to meet the evolving needs of our customers. The program's emphasis on skills development, combined with Cisco's substantial investment in training, underscores their commitment to our mutual success. We look forward to leveraging these new opportunities to drive growth and deliver exceptional value to our clients." "As part of our commitment to uniting solutions that deliver business outcomes today and unlock growth for the future, we are proud to have contributed to the creation of the Cisco 360 Partner Program," said Nicko Roussos, Senior Vice President at TD SYNNEX. "This program exemplifies the spirit of innovation and collaboration that has defined our long-term partnership with Cisco and equips us to deliver exceptional, outcome-based experiences. We believe the program will help us better serve our customers to drive mutual growth and do great things with technology." "One of Cisco's historical strengths has been leading partners through market changes and earning their trust as a result. With this new direction, Cisco has an opportunity to reassume the thought leadership helm going forward," said Cyndi Privett, Owner and Vice President of Research, Viewpoint Research. Additional Resources: For more information on Cisco Partner Summit, please visit hereFor an overview of the Cisco 360 Partner Program, please visit hereFor details on the Cisco 360 Partner Program, partners can visit hereExecutive Platform Blog: Leading Through Learning With The Cisco 360 Partner Program About Cisco Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide technology leader that securely connects everything to make anything possible. Our purpose is to power an inclusive future for all by helping our customers reimagine their applications, power hybrid work, secure their enterprise, transform their infrastructure, and meet their sustainability goals.

Cisco 360 A 'Modern' Channel Program That Puts AI at the Center: Exclusive

'The foundation of our program was hardware and transaction. That's who we were as a company at the time and that served us well ... but what it rewarded was a partner who transacts, and the way that we do business today is quite different. It's the first material shift in how we evaluate partners since the since the original push into the [partner] ecosystem,' Cisco Channel Chief Rodney Clark tells CRN of Cisco 360, the all-new partner program. The iconic partner program known for its ability to fund major industry transitions for Cisco partners is getting its biggest refresh in the history of the company. Cisco 360, the new partner program that the tech giant revealed on Monday at Cisco Partner Summit 2024, was built to attract more MSPs and MSSPs with its focus on the value partners bring over transactions. It represents a marked break from the biggest payouts going to partners landing large, capex infrastructure deals. "The foundation of our program was hardware and transaction. That's who we were as a company at the time and that served us well ... but what it rewarded was, through a rebate mechanism and a number of other discounting mechanisms, a partner who transacts, and the way that we do business today is quite different, our customer expectations are quite different and we wanted our program to reflect that," Rodney Clark, senior vice president of partnerships and small and medium business for Cisco Systems, told CRN in an exclusive interview. "It's the first material shift in how we evaluate partners since the since the original push into the [partner] ecosystem." [Related: Partners Say HPE Still 'A Ways Behind' Cisco In Network Dominance As CEOs Spar] The new program recognizes a new era in which networking services, security and AI are king. The company's pivot to rewarding based on value will open the door to "boutique" security and networking partners, Clark said. "The way that we designed this is, because we're pivoting from transaction and across the value index, it actually gives way to [are] those partners who are specialty partners in things like security and networking. It gives way to those boutique partners who maybe are very highly specialized, but important to us from an ecosystem standpoint," said Clark. The Cisco 360 program will do away with separate partner programs and incentives such as VIP, Perform Plus, and the Cisco Services Partner Program, or CSPP. These will be folded into a single structure called Cisco Partner incentive (CPI) that was first discussed during the 2023 partner summit. CPI will mirror the overall value index that will measure partners across four areas: the foundational, capabilities, performance and engagement, Clark said. The illustrious Cisco Gold partner designation is also going away in the new program and in its place will be two designations: Cisco Partner and Cisco Preferred Partner. Cisco partners can earn these designations for each portfolio, such as security or networking, the company said. "It's definitely a modern program for us that puts AI at the center. It's a program that's based on partners building capability and delivering value across five areas for us: networking, security, observability, collaboration, cloud, and across that is this thread of AI," Clark said. "It allows us to establish value in each of the architectures, and then also reward partners who cut across our architectures and deliver on AI-specific outcomes." The new program replaces Cisco's current complex incentive system with a more predictable structure that's better aligned with how Cisco wants to do business; by driving software adoption and business outcomes, said Stephen Bland, group alliance director for U.K.-based global solution provider Computacenter, one of Cisco's largest Gold partners. Computacenter is one of the partners that has been working with Cisco behind the scenes to overhaul the partner program. "As Cisco has evolved with a broader product range and different routes to market, I think the existing partner programs perhaps have become increasingly complex and time consuming for partners to manage," Bland said. "I think it was very appropriate and good timing to have a complete refresh and look at it from scratch to reflect on the way Cisco has changed, the markets change, and to simplify and take away some of the existing complexity." Cisco is a very large organization with partners all over the world who will have to adapt to the new program. To that end, the new program won't go into effect until February 2026. "We really have to get into details on the new metrics, the rewards and how we earn money. There's still a bit of a learning process to go through, and that's why Cisco is [spending] the next 15 months sharing more details and piloting it, so that when it goes live, it's well understood by partners. They're not doing this quickly. It's such a big change it will take time for their partners and Cisco themselves to really understand what this means in the marketplace," Bland said. In the meantime, Cisco wants to help protect the investments of its partners, Clark said. "If you're a Gold partner today, you get to continue driving on the investments that you've made, and we protect that investment all the way through to our program in 2026. The reason that we're giving so much time is so that we can be open and transparent with partners around the requirements across the new value index and ultimately what that means in this new Cisco 360 partner program. We'll be working with all of our partners to ensure that they are playing as high up that value index as possible," he said. Cisco 360 will also include the Splunk Partnerverse program, which is being merged into the new program over the next 15 months, Clark said. Along the way, there will be incentives that allow partners to drive deeper into networking, security and observability, he said. "We have specializations in security as well as observability that will be honored -- back to protecting the investments -- that will allow those Splunk partners who've invested in their journey to be able to bring that investment over into the Cisco partner program, as well as those Cisco partners who, who've started to cross invest in Splunk, allowing them to bridge that investment into the Cisco 360 partner program." While Cisco 360 is a massive revamp to the company's existing partner programming structure, the company will honor its history of hardware and networking, which continues to be central to Cisco, while helping to uplevel these classic Cisco partners, Clark said. "[We're] looking at introducing this notion of value. So, transaction, but also with the ability to build capabilities and how we actually manage lifecycle and overall practice maturity, looking at the investments that partners may make in skilling and training and putting some value on that, looking at the overall performance metrics and adding things the ability to drive the land, expand, adopt, renew, motion, [which is] a big part of our services strategy," he said of the biggest change to the partner program in three decades. To help partners make the shift, Cisco also revealed an $80 million in new partner investment and enablement. $60 million of that investment will support qualified partners with benefits including all-access Cisco U. subscriptions for skill development and certification. An additional $20 million will fund quarterly training events for all partners, focusing on AI, security, and networking through self-paced learning, hands-on labs, and continuing education credits, the company said. "We're really making an effort to make sure that, again, all investments are protected and we're giving enough runway and lead time for partners to establish themselves in the new designations," Clark said.