The "360" Shift: Cisco Retires 'gold' status in radical AI-era partner program overhaul
- Marijan Hassan - Tech Journalist
- 12 minutes ago
- 2 min read
After 15 months of co-design, new framework replaces 30-year-old tiers with outcome-based 'value indexes'.
In the most significant shakeup of its channel strategy in three decades, Cisco has officially launched the Cisco 360 Partner Program. Launched last week on January 25, 2026, the program abandons traditional "Gold, Premier, and Select" designations in favor of a new hierarchy designed to reward partners who can build AI-ready data centers and secure, resilient networks rather than those who simply move the most hardware.
The launch follows a 15-month "co-design" period where Cisco executives worked with thousands of global partners to move the needle from "transactional" to "operational" excellence.
The end of 'Cisco Gold'
For nearly 30 years, "Cisco Gold" was the industry’s most coveted badge of technical honor. Under Cisco 360, that label is officially being retired. In its place, the program introduces two primary tiers:
Cisco Portfolio Partner: Recognizes proven sales and technical expertise across specific product lines.
Cisco Preferred Partner: The new "elite" tier, reserved for partners with advanced technical skills, robust lifecycle practices, and the ability to deliver end-to-end solutions.
The change initially caused anxiety among longtime partners, but Cisco is softening the transition with the Cisco Partner Value Index (PVI). This is a transparent scorecard that measures partners across four dimensions: Foundational, Capabilities, Performance, and Engagement.
Incentivizing the AI infrastructure
The core goal of Cisco 360 is to equip the channel to handle the "AI surge" currently straining enterprise networks. Initiatives include:
The CPI (Cisco Partner Incentive): This new, streamlined incentive replaces a patchwork of legacy programs (like VIP and Perform Plus). It offers more predictable earnings and includes temporary "One Cisco" bonuses for Secure Networking and Secure AI Infrastructure specializations, available through July 2026.
AI Training Investment: Cisco is backing the launch with an $80 million investment in partner skills. This includes "Learning Journeys" via Cisco U and the introduction of the Cisco AI Assistant for Partners, which helps vendors navigate technical documentation and sales training in real-time.
Demo Excellence: Preferred Partners gain access to Advanced dCloud Demo Experiences, allowing them to build virtual "digital twin" environments to show customers how AI workloads will actually perform on their specific network configurations.
A focus on 'The Big Three' outcomes
Cisco 360 isn't just a list of products; it’s organized around three specific business outcomes that Cisco believes will dominate the next five years:
AI-Ready Data Centers: Modernizing power and cooling for high-density compute.
Future-Proofed Workplaces: Secure, hybrid-first collaboration tools.
Digital Resilience: End-to-end security that protects data from the "edge" to the cloud.
"This is a bridge to a new partner model," said Anurag Agrawal, Chief Analyst at Techaisle. "The partners who embrace the Value Index as a business plan, not just a scorecard, will find that 2026 is a year of unprecedented profitability."
