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Cisco, a leading networking and security provider, announced a new Cisco 360 Partner Program designed to better address rapidly evolving and complex customer needs, including 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.
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 by measuring value over transactions, including how partners serve customer needs and ambitions while harnessing the collective strength of Cisco's partner ecosystem in ways that drive growth. The program is intended to 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
One of the first tangible enhancements to the partner experience will be 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.
Cisco 360 Partner Program Elements
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 partners' value proposition and awareness with customers, Cisco is moving to two partner 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.
AI-Ready Infrastructure Specialization
Cisco also announced 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.
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.
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