Cisco has started off the new year by announcing the launch of the Cisco 360 Partner Program, a program which is the culmination of fifteen months of co-design with partners. The company explained that its success is ‘’built on close collaboration with its partners to meet customer needs in the fast-changing AI world.’’

Cisco enthused that with this development, it is boosting how it supports partners while making it easier for them to help customers. The company explained that the new program, built for developers, consultants, managed services providers, resellers, and other partner business models, better equips Cisco partners to deliver customer outcomes in the areas of AI-ready data centers, future-proofed workplaces, and digital resilience.

 “The Cisco 360 Partner Program was designed with partners to foster collective success, enable differentiation, and help partners scale with confidence. It’s about making our ecosystem’s unique value clear to the market and our customers,” commented Elisabeth De Dobbeleer, Senior Vice President, Cisco Partner Program.

Furthermore, the Cisco 360 Partner Program is designed to provide clarity and empower partners to drive more predictable profitability. At the same time, with the new Cisco Partner Locator tool, customers can now search for the right partner across key Cisco portfolios like Security, Networking, Collaboration, Services, Splunk, and Cloud and AI Infrastructure.

“With our partners, we’ve strengthened what is already a world-class ecosystem to deliver even greater value and help our mutual customers connect, protect and thrive,” said Tim Coogan, Senior Vice President of Global Partner Sales at Cisco.

“The Cisco 360 Partner Program helps us differentiate based on our expertise. We appreciate that we’re measured on the value we bring; that only benefits our mutual customers,” added Nicko Roussos, Senior Vice President, Cisco Strategy & Transformation, TD Synnex.

Elisabeth De Dobbeleer, Senior Vice President, Cisco Partner Program.

Readiness is key

Cisco’s recent AI Readiness Index shows that being AI ready is a competitive advantage for companies. Meeting these needs relies on expert partners collaborating to provide essential infrastructure, services, and AI-native capabilities. The Cisco 360 Partner Program recognizes partner expertise and rewards value creation across the customer lifecycle—empowering partners to provide secure, agile solutions that support customers through transformation.

The company explained that the Cisco 360 Partner Program evolves Cisco’s program to align with partner and customer priorities. These include:

Clearer, more predictable earnings for partners with the Cisco Partner Incentive

Now live, the Cisco Partner Incentive (CPI) streamlines past program elements; offers partners clearer, more predictable earnings across Cisco’s portfolio; and helps partners plan for growth by aligning sales focus and go-to-market strategies with Cisco’s roadmap.

Helping customers find the right expertise

Cisco’s new partner designations help customers easily identify partners with the right capabilities. All participants are recognized as registered Cisco Partners. Cisco Portfolio Partners demonstrate proven sales and technical expertise, practice maturity, and a strong commitment to customer engagement. Cisco Preferred Partners go even further, offering advanced technical skills, robust lifecycle and adoption practices, and the capability to deliver comprehensive end-to-end solutions.

Enhanced resources: New Rebates, Partner Value Indexes, Development Fund, and AI Assistant

Partners have access to new resources to help differentiate and grow their offerings for customers:

• Cisco Partner Incentive (CPI) - Cisco is introducing CPI bonuses to increase partner earning potential, focusing on One Cisco including the new Secure Networking and Secure AI Infrastructure specializations. These temporary bonuses will expire at the end of July 2026.
• Partner Value Indexes (PVI) - Cisco’s main measurement framework will soon add dedicated indexes for Developers/Advisors, Mass-Scale Infrastructure and Distributors with tailored learning paths and opportunities for these different types of partners to boost value and profitability.
• Distributor Development Fund - This new fund is designed to drive stronger alignment and success between Cisco and distributor, focusing on partner growth and enablement.
• Enhanced Cisco AI Assistant - A more intuitive Cisco AI Assistant for the Partner Experience Platform (PXP) helps partners work smarter and focus on delivering value to customers.

Feedback from Cisco’s partners has already been positive.

“We’ve already actively engaged in the Cisco 360 Partner Program leading up to the launch and are already seeing the benefits of the Cisco Partner Incentive Estimator for planning. This insight plays a critical role in ensuring we deliver the most competitive solutions to our customers,” said Lane Irvine, Director, Strategic Alliances, Long View Systems.

"Cisco has invested significant time and effort in the redesign of this program. While there was understandable hesitation at the start, it's clear that the refinements made along the way have strengthened the overall approach. I especially appreciate that partner feedback was actively listened to and thoughtfully actioned throughout the process," added Alex Schank, Senior Partner Operations, Pomeroy Technologies, LLC.

Interested parties can learn additional details on the Cisco 360 Partner Program website, and customers can find Cisco partners at the Partner Tool locator.