Channel focus: All you need to know about Cisco's partner program

Cisco partners will help reshape networks to manage complexity...

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Cisco logo and branding pictured at the networking company's vendor stall at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023.
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San Jose, California-headquartered Cisco dates back to 1984, when Stanford University couple Sandy Lerner and Leonard Bosack commercialized an advanced gateway server for local area networking (LAN), launching Cisco Systems.

By 1995, most organizations boasted a Cisco router or two. Cisco's still expanding the market under chairman and CEO Chuck Robbins with releases for the Internet of Things (IoT), AI, and cybersecurity implementations.

With some 90,400 employees, Cisco reported revenue of $56.7 billion in 2025, up 5% year over year. Networking sales rose 12%, enjoying "double-digit" growth for its fourth quarter in a row.

Rodney Clark, senior vice president, partnerships, SMB and mid-market, is the channel head. Cisco lists some 39,971 partners globally on its Partner Locator, including names like Logicalis, Aspire, Comstor, and ePlus.

Key offerings

Cisco emphasizes AI's potential to transform technology markets and customer organizations; multiple 2025 releases target cross-architecture sales with three foci:

  • AI-ready datacenters, supporting complexity, cost, and scalability.
  • Future-proofed workplaces, including securing and connecting hybrid, distributed networks.
  • Digital resilience for compliance and security, including using AI to solve problems faster.

Supporting technologies include Cisco Secure Firewall 200 and 6100 series hybrid mesh firewalling, as well as universal zero-trust network access (ZTNA) and AI Canvas generative user interface (UI) and agentic AIops. A unified platform for Meraki and Catalyst is also expected to drive gains.

Recent news

  • June saw Cisco update network security, including for hybrid mesh and network access, to help secure enterprise AI agents.
  • Cisco in February said networking products, including integrated platforms, can help drive AI-market sales.
  • Last November, Cisco sketched the ongoing 360 Partner Program overhaul as meeting AI workload, infrastructure modernization, and cyber-resilience needs

Cisco for partners

Cisco 360 looks to reward partners, especially for lifecycle and managed services capabilities, answering market shifts. "Enterprise networks are being pushed to their limits," Clark notes.

"Organizations rely more heavily on bandwidth-intensive, latency-sensitive applications like real-time collaboration, ERP, and CRM."

Partners contribute "approximately 90% to Cisco's overall bookings" with software and services slightly behind hardware. So input and suggestions from partners are crucial to Cisco 360's design; support so far includes $80m for AI skills enablement, as well as investment into partner capabilities and branding, suggests Shannon Leininger, Cisco's vice president, global partner sales.

"We know that customers need cross-architecture solutions that deliver AI-ready datacenters, future-proofed workplaces, and digital resilience," she says.

Partner programs, tiers, and partner types

  • Under Cisco 360 are Integrator, Provider, Developer or Advisor partner types, covering direct value-add resellers (DVAR), distributors, SIs, ISVs, OEMs, and hyperscalers.
  • Preferred Partner designation for top performers, with associated privileges.
  • Gold, Premier, and Select tiers end on 25 January 2026. New designations will reflect a "value index" of partner portfolio performance per portfolio, such as security or networking.
  • Prior partner investments to receive foundational, capabilities, performance, and engagement credits.
  • Specializations will also be revised away from the current system of Advanced or Master competencies reviewed annually, toward solutions and, for Preferred Partners, 'next generation' specializations announced at the November 2025 Cisco Partner Summit. The current system includes:

Training and certifications

  • Certifications (14) in Cisco's training catalog comprise 154 courses. Certifications can be tracked via the Alpine certification tracking system. Candidates may choose e-learning on demand, instructor-led courses, bootcamps, or a Cisco U learning path.
    • Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA).
    • Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP). In Collaboration, Data Center, Enterprise, Security, or Service Provider domains.
    • Cisco Certified Field or Support Technician (2).
    • Cisco Customer Success Manager Specialist
    • Cisco Meraki Solutions Specialist
    • Cybersecurity Associate or Professional (2)
    • Devnet Associate or Professional (2)

Additional training opportunities

  • Cisco U offers 200 learning paths and 2,750 courses as well as labs, tutorials, and the like.
  • Cisco Networking Academy. For certification and training in topics such as digital literacy, English for IT roles, AI, or advanced programming.
  • Black Belt Academy partner training hub with hands-on labs, demos, and role-based learning paths for pre-sales, sales, technical, and engineering roles.

Further benefits, rewards, and incentives

Sign up and get on board

Look online to see where you fit, or simply choose and speak to a distributor on the partner locator tool. "A lot of our partners get onboarded through distribution," confirms Leininger.

Online, you'll be taken to this link to create a Cisco account first off, or you can do so here. Portal registration is essential for partner self-service, including finding information, such as contacts, offerings, and partner tools: here's a summary.

Problems? Contact web-based support or email askpartnerprogram@cisco.com.

For help with registration, renewal, or partner access specifically, you can also click here.

For Black Belt Academy support, go here, or log in and navigate to this link.

Other Cisco contacts and support phone numbers can be found here.

Cisco partners can be found on Facebook, X and LinkedIn. A partner community group is here, and partner-focused blogs are here. Cisco also publishes on Instagram, YouTube, and this video portal.

Fleur Doidge

Fleur Doidge is a journalist with more than twenty years of experience, mainly writing features and news for B2B technology or business magazines and websites. She writes on a shifting assortment of topics, including the IT reseller channel, manufacturing, datacentre, cloud computing and communications. You can follow Fleur on Twitter.

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