Rashad Baradi, Country Distribution Manager, Cisco – KSA, and Sherif Azzam, Business Unit Manager, Comstor – KSA, elaborate on the ways that the Cisco 360 program is the next step in the evolution of the Cisco Partner Program.
What makes Cisco 360 different from other programs launched by Cisco during the past 3 decades of its existence?
Rashad: Cisco 360 program has been built with input from over 1,000 hours of feedback from partners, customers, and industry analysts.
It builds on our rich hardware and networking legacy while evolving with today’s shift to software, subscriptions, and services. The program supports all types of partner models, focusing on what matters most—driving value through go-to-market strategies, building capabilities, and engaging deeply with customers. Its portfolio-based framework ensures partners grow with us as we innovate.
The Cisco 360 Partner Program reflects global impact, agility, and simplicity—and most importantly, it represents Cisco’s commitment to working together and winning as one ecosystem. Unlike the programs of the past three decades, Cisco 360 has been designed to attract more MSPs and MSSPs with its focus on the value partners bring as opposed to the large transactions they capture. A key focus of the program is to vastly simplify Cisco’s complicated program structure that included several different incentives and rebate programs, such as VIP and Perform Plus.
What are the goals Cisco is trying to achieve through the rollout of the program?
Rashad: The goals of the new program are for Cisco to drive double-digit growth in the markets it serves while boosting the profitability of partners, through which Cisco does 90 percent of its business. As Cisco’s business has evolved over the years, it wants to ensure that partners also experience similar growth. Cisco has about 10,000 transaction partners today and the goal is to also open the door for new partners that perhaps haven’t done—or have done very little—business with Cisco, including MSSPs.
Can you explain how Cisco 360 offers a new way to measure partner value?
Rashad: The Cisco 360 Partner Program introduces the Partner Value Index, a new framework for measuring your contribution across four dimensions:
• Foundational: The maturity of your lifecycle or managed services practices.
• Capabilities: Your investment in technical and other skills.
Performance: How you land, retain, and renew customer value.
• Engagement: How you connect with customers throughout their journey.
This approach ensures that your unique strengths—whether in Security, Networking, Collaboration, Cloud & AI, Services and Observability, and/or across multiple portfolios—are recognised and rewarded.
What are the new designations that will be followed under the program and how do they help in amplifying a partner’s value to the customers?
Rashad: Cisco aims to highlight the investments and capabilities that set partners apart. That is why two new designations have been introduced under the new program: Cisco Partner and Cisco Preferred Partner. With the introduction of these designations, the existing Gold, Premier and Select levels will be discontinued.
These new designations reflect partners’ strengths and commitment to excellence. These new designations will also enable customers to choose their preferred partner(s). Also, as we transition to the Cisco 360 Partner Program, the shift from traditional Architecture Specialisations to Solution-based Specialisations will continue. Cisco is developing next gen Specialisations that will allow partners to differentiate their technical expertise either more deeply into one specific portfolio or across portfolios; going forward, these specialisations will be available to Cisco Preferred Partners.
What is Comstor doing to help partners with a smooth transition to Cisco 360 program?
Sherif: Cisco 360 is the most significant evolution of Cisco’s Partner program in 25 years, designed from the ground up to help Partners build their workforce, enable outcomes, and lead the way for our industry. As Comstor, we are fully focused on ensuring that our partners take full advantage of the program. We have been creating awareness about the program and its benefits through training, webinars and dedicated sessions during our channel events. Our sales and business development teams are engaged with our partners to ensure a smooth transition to the new program. Also, our teams are fully aligned with Cisco to be able to answer any queries that partners might have.
Image Credit: Cisco & Comstor
