Cisco Updates Partner and Infrastructure Programs

Cisco announced updates to its Cisco 360 Partner Program, Cisco IQ services and Cisco Cloud Control at Cisco Partner Summit, aiming to give partners new incentives and tools for selling and managing infrastructure for AI. Cisco said its program now has dedicated paths for Advisors, Developers and Distributors as it enters its first full year. The changes include Ecosystem Deal Registration, which recognizes Advisors and Developers for contributions to transactions, and new Advisor and Developer Partner Value Indexes. A unified Distributor Partner Value Index is scheduled to become available by Spring of 2027. Cisco is increasing the annual contract value growth reward by 50%, doubling the Adopt reward for all use cases, and adding new adoption incentives for Cisco IQ. Preferred and Portfolio partners can also receive an additional +2% cross-sell bonus for expanding accounts into new Cisco architectures, including Splunk.

Cisco said Cisco IQ for Partners is generally available, with more than 16,000 customers and visibility across close to 20 million devices since April 2026. Partners can use its MCP Server and expanded API access to bring intelligence into their services, workflows and AI agents, query customer IT systems, address short-term risks such as AI-powered threats, and plan infrastructure modernization. New role-based access control lets customers give partners secure access to information about their installed products. The service also adds playbooks for quantum-safe risks and software end-of-vulnerability support, bug and software-conformance assessments, and integration with Cisco Cloud Control for real-time risk information and one-click action on at-risk managed devices. Cisco IQ's AI Assistant now uses device diagnostics and Cisco Technical Assistance Center knowledge to support troubleshooting and lets users create, close or escalate support cases.

Cisco is adding AgenticOps tools to Cloud Control, its shared platform for teams and AI agents managing infrastructure. Model Foundry lets partners discover, evaluate, fine-tune and run Cisco models on their own data; controlled availability begins with Cisco partners, who will get access to the platform's newest model versions and weights before broader release. Cisco is also integrating ThousandEyes into Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 access points under eligible Networking Essentials and Advantage licenses, enabling automated background tests of application and network performance. New Model Context Protocol servers provide a standardized connection for AI tools to access live network data, supporting automated troubleshooting and reporting workflows.

Cisco also announced a Wi-Fi 7 access point with quantum-resilient capabilities, which it called the industry's first, and expanded Live Protect support to N9000 Series Switches, N9300 Smart Switches, Catalyst SD-WAN, C9000 Series Smart Switches and CW9800 Wireless Controllers. Cisco said support for Cisco 8000 Secure Routers and Cisco Firewalls is intended by the end of 2026. In development with Teleport, Cisco Privileged Infrastructure Access will give network teams and AI agents task-specific access to routers and switches using short-lived, identity-bound certificates; sessions are recorded and access expires when each session ends.

Cisco announced updates to its Cisco 360 Partner Program, Cisco IQ services and Cisco Cloud Control at Cisco Partner Summit, aiming to give partners new incentives and tools for selling and managing infrastructure for AI. Cisco said its program now has dedicated paths for Advisors, Developers and Distributors as it enters its first full year. The changes include Ecosystem Deal Registration, which recognizes Advisors and Developers for contributions to transactions, and new Advisor and Developer Partner Value Indexes. A unified Distributor Partner Value Index is scheduled to become available by Spring of 2027. Cisco is increasing the annual contract value growth reward by 50%, doubling the Adopt reward for all use cases, and adding new adoption incentives for Cisco IQ. Preferred and Portfolio partners can also receive an additional +2% cross-sell bonus for expanding accounts into new Cisco architectures, including Splunk.

Cisco said Cisco IQ for Partners is generally available, with more than 16,000 customers and visibility across close to 20 million devices since April 2026. Partners can use its MCP Server and expanded API access to bring intelligence into their services, workflows and AI agents, query customer IT systems, address short-term risks such as AI-powered threats, and plan infrastructure modernization. New role-based access control lets customers give partners secure access to information about their installed products. The service also adds playbooks for quantum-safe risks and software end-of-vulnerability support, bug and software-conformance assessments, and integration with Cisco Cloud Control for real-time risk information and one-click action on at-risk managed devices. Cisco IQ's AI Assistant now uses device diagnostics and Cisco Technical Assistance Center knowledge to support troubleshooting and lets users create, close or escalate support cases.

Cisco is adding AgenticOps tools to Cloud Control, its shared platform for teams and AI agents managing infrastructure. Model Foundry lets partners discover, evaluate, fine-tune and run Cisco models on their own data; controlled availability begins with Cisco partners, who will get access to the platform's newest model versions and weights before broader release. Cisco is also integrating ThousandEyes into Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 access points under eligible Networking Essentials and Advantage licenses, enabling automated background tests of application and network performance. New Model Context Protocol servers provide a standardized connection for AI tools to access live network data, supporting automated troubleshooting and reporting workflows.

Cisco also announced a Wi-Fi 7 access point with quantum-resilient capabilities, which it called the industry's first, and expanded Live Protect support to N9000 Series Switches, N9300 Smart Switches, Catalyst SD-WAN, C9000 Series Smart Switches and CW9800 Wireless Controllers. Cisco said support for Cisco 8000 Secure Routers and Cisco Firewalls is intended by the end of 2026. In development with Teleport, Cisco Privileged Infrastructure Access will give network teams and AI agents task-specific access to routers and switches using short-lived, identity-bound certificates; sessions are recorded and access expires when each session ends.