Cisco held its Partner Summit in Vancouver, highlighting a shift from transaction-based sales to an intelligence-led services model. In fiscal 2026, channel bookings represented 90% of total company revenue, with global channel growth exceeding 17%.
The company introduced Ecosystem Deal Registration to provide formal credit to consultants and developers who influence deals without executing them. Starting next spring, these partners will be eligible for referral incentives, alongside new Partner Value Indexes.
Cisco IQ is central to the new strategy, allowing partners to deliver branded support services. Cisco offers a $2,500 adoption incentive per customer, 6% deal registration for support tiers, and a $1 million Builders Challenge for managed services.
Financial incentives now prioritize cross-selling across architectures, including Splunk. The company offers a 2% bonus for new architecture expansion, a 50% increase in rewards for annual contract value growth, and 12% deal registration for Supermicro systems.
Cisco is providing partners with AI tools like Model Foundry and Cloud Control Studio to build custom agents and services. Additionally, the company is updating its Partner Experience Platform to streamline operations, with pilot programs reducing bill of materials creation time by 80%.
