Cisco伙伴峰会：五点见解，将定义AI时代的频道

Cisco伙伴峰会：五点见解，将定义AI时代的频道

思科伙伴峰会在其30年历史的大部分时间里，都专注于合作伙伴如何销售思科系统股份有限公司的技术。 今年在温哥华举办的活动涉及不同的事情：在一个交易不再是主要活动的世界中，合作伙伴如何赚钱。

思科以巨大的势头进入赛事，因为在过去的12个月里，它的股量上升了50%以上。 全球合作伙伴销售高级副总裁蒂姆·库根(Tim Coogan (pictured))告诉出席的2000位合作伙伴说，2026年财政期间，频道预订占思科的90%左右，全球频道增长刚刚超过17%。 首席执行官查克·罗宾斯(Chuck Robbins)称财政2026年是“思科有史以来最好的一年 ”。 温哥华的公告标志着对价值如何通过思科的伙伴生态系统移动的真正反思。

这是我的5份外卖对思科合伙人来说很重要

影响现在算数，不只是交易

温哥华最显著的变化也可能是最不闪烁的。 帮助思科赢得协议，即使他们不执行协议。 这组伙伴没有得到与传统转卖伙伴相同的关注

今天，这种信贷与Cisco销售商一起采取营销支持和促销的形式。 从明年春天开始，首选的顾问和开发商将有资格获得转介奖励。 Cisco还为顾问和开发者引入了专门的合作伙伴价值指数，计划于2027年推出统一的发行指数。

库根强调了这一变化的重要性。 “我们的传统方案是以交易为基础的”，他在主旨发言中表示，“这是把合作伙伴的整个生态系统汇集到一个单一的解决办法中以造福我们的客户的独特方法。”

提供的数据支持这一变化。 Cisco引用了Omdia的研究表明，客户依靠6到7个合伙人，在购买前经过28个影响时刻。 一个只给持纸合伙人付费的程序忽略了决定的形成大部分内容。 风险是渠道冲突，转售商会想要证明奖励性的影响会增加馅饼而不是分裂馅饼。

Robbins)解决了Cisco 360推出的尴尬和公司采取纠正行动的意愿。 “我们并不完美。 我们会搞砸，这是他发言的一个很好的例子，伙伴们应继续坚持他的发言。

Cisco IQ 将服务转化为业务

如果一项公告可以改变伙伴经济学，则将是Cisco IQ Partner品牌支持标准。 合作伙伴现在可以通过自己的品牌，通过自己的专家，以角色为基础访问客户安装的基地，应用编程接口，IT服务管理集成，以及一个模型上下文协议服务器来交付思科IQ.

“太久以来，合伙人们在没有思科的同样观点的情况下进入客户对话。 “称 Liz Centoni，执行副总裁兼首席客户经验官。 " 这是他们的名字、他们的客户关系和他们的服务实践。 Cisco IQ是发动机。 伙伴是企业。”

Centoni提出了一些令人信服的证据。 超过16000客户和近2000万个设备现在都在思科IQ上。 Generali将评估16 000个装置的单一安全咨询的时间从4天减少到10分钟。 乔治城大学将两个月的人工更新工作转变为20分钟的视野。

在舞台上，Centoni给出了一个将机会量化的例子。 以她为例，一个走进来刷新75本625 000美元左右的交换机的合伙人走了。 一个从思科IQ开始的合作伙伴，识别发现的装置，销售硬化服务，设计刷新，然后在所有175个交换机上运行管理下的操作，在五年内可以达到约130万美元，包括奖励。 这是值的2.1倍。 “基本地图给你。 标准与签名给你GPS,"她称。

Cisco正以每名入职客户2,500美元的领养奖励、6%的交易登记在标准与签名支持上，我的理解是，思科正在将合伙人从项目收入转移到经常性收入，其中估值倍数较高。 将思科智商作为支持附加出售的合作伙伴会错过这一点。

神话使现代化成为紧急情况

多年来，最后一天的支持对话感觉像一个供应商推硬件。 罗宾斯称同样多。 “当我们站起来谈论我们所谓的LDOS(支持的最后一天)时，人们会说，`OK，那只是卖家试图出售更多的设备'，而你本来是部分对的。 “现在，把设备从基础设施中取出，这些设备无法补齐，而且没有备用设备，这是真正的紧急情况。”

Coogan提供了强调紧迫性的数字。 2018年，从发现到利用脆弱性，历时两年多。 去年，大约三周。 今年，去年只有3%的合作伙伴称AI安全为增长机会。 今年有33%的人这样做。

Cisco的答案包括扩展了Live Protection的覆盖范围，它称之为该行业的第一个量子反应Wi-Fi 7接入点，以及使用Teleport建造的Privileged基础设施Access，为工程师和AI agents提供了短寿命，身份约束的路由器和开关访问。 若agents在您的基础设施中运行，他们每天唯一接触的共同点就是网络。

Robbins 称只有8%的安装基座被刷新到思科的新企业组合。 但是，用他的话来说，客户是“覆盖的”。 获胜的伙伴将提出一项分阶段计划，概述首先要解决的问题和原因。 这是咨询技巧

边距跟随平台

马克·帕特森(Mark Patterson)，执行副总裁兼首席财务官，曾出席合伙人峰会超过20年，但这是他首次登台演出。 他的这届会议是今天最有用的会议之一，因为他讨论了最能激励合作伙伴的因素：金钱。 关于价格上涨，他称说，“提高价格是我们最后的绝对手段。” 他补充说，11月7日增加的目标是记忆密集型产品，而不是“以花生酱的方式”传播。

他最重要的一点是边际。 Patterson 称。 他表示，“你可能用计算来领导，但随后又加上网络、安全、Splunk和可观察性。 这才是你所想的。

奖励办法符合这一观点。 程序新增额外获得2%的交叉销售奖金，用于扩展成新的思科建筑，包括斯普伦克。 它将年度合同价值增长的奖励增加50%，翻倍的领养奖励，并为作为全存储AI基础设施的一部分出售的Supermicro系统提供12%的交易注册。 库根还对斯普伦克做出了不寻常的承认。 他的称说，“我们比我们想要的慢，比我们本该慢，而且今年的变化和现在的变化。

Patterson还强调Cisco Capital没有得到充分利用，指出“利润是完全预付的”，这有助于合作伙伴为技术债务沉重的客户建立更大的交易。 信息是，瘦边际计算是切入点，而不是利润所在。 91%的接受调查的合作伙伴报告说，客户关注人工智能成本，那些能够设计成本效益高的假设的人将获得附加收入。

伙伴必须成为建设者

最后的见解涉及谁能建立价值。 Cisco将自己的AI工具直接交给合伙人。 Model Foundry是思科云控制公司内部的一个新服务，它让合作伙伴首先可以访问思科目的建造的模型，包括用于网络故障排除的Deep Network. 合作伙伴可以通过OpenAI兼容应用程序编程接口运行这些模型，并在客户数据上运行微调。 云控工作室让合作伙伴为客户建造agents. 用于网络平台的新MCP服务器消除了构建自定义集成的需要，千眼合成测试现在被搭建到符合条件的Wi-Fi 6E和Wi-Fi 7接入点，不增加成本。

思科也在自己频道摩擦中开启AI. 正在重建其伙伴经验平台，以将机会、引言和付款连接在一起。 早期的agent至agent的试飞员与经销商削减在大约80%的时间内制造出一份材料单。

库根以谦卑的语气谈到伙伴。 称表示：「我们的伙伴不欠我们任何东西，“我们每天都有权与他们共事。” 在思科，这种心态很重要，他们要求合作伙伴投资于许多人还没有的技能。 合作伙伴报告说，AI知识差距正在缩小，但实际部署差距正在扩大。

这对伙伴意味着什么？

2026年合伙人峰会标志着思科频道从转售模式向情报主导服务模式的转变。 我对合作伙伴的建议是：

从Basic Support中移动尽可能多的客户。 基本支持为客户提供了库存。 标准和签字释放了创造伙伴价值的能力：确定脆弱性的优先次序、主动的风险情报、同侪基准和量子准备情况评估。 Centoni 称 Cisco有“太多批评性的客户，其基础应该是标准的和签名的，”并指出，较高层级的客户的净促进者得分较高15分，这转化为更好的保留和更强大的更新。 经济学奖励现在移动的合作伙伴。 开始审查你安装的基地找出Basic上的关键账户让Cisco IQ演示现场

领头有韧性，不新鲜。 客户知道他们的设备是旧的。 他们所缺乏的是对首先要解决什么问题的明确认识。 使用思科IQ和思科的耐力基础设施游戏本来构建分阶段的，风险分级的计划。 首先，没有支持的地址设备。 然后，使那些留在服务。 最后，新的 " 量子安全 " 和软件 " 结束脆弱性支助 " 评估为这项工作的范围提供了更多的证据。 这种方法将硬件对话转变为专业服务参与。 当客户称今年没有预算，客户将购买优先级，而不是部分数字。

故意组队大部分客户已经与6到7个合作伙伴合作，而生态系统交易注册让思科有一个正式的方法来奖励在不进行交易的情况下形成交易的顾问，顾问和开发者。 交易伙伴应将此视为管道机会，而不是威胁。 找出影响你最大账户的顾问建立于梅拉基和思科云控的独立软件供应商以及能够填补你业务空白的斯普伦克专家斯普伦克对很多思科合伙人来说都是新人，对他们来说，库根提供了一些建议。 如果另一个伙伴有你的团队需要的专业知识，组队。 早期绘制这些关系图并将其正式化的合作伙伴将会在竞争对手赶上前看到更大，更快的交易。

投资建设者。 下一轮的区别不会来自更深的折扣。 它来自谁可以调用 Cisco 的数据和Mo

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Cisco Partner Summit: Five insights that will define the channel in the AI era

For most of its 30-year history, Cisco Partner Summit has focused on how partners sell Cisco Systems Inc. technology. This year’s event in Vancouver was about something different: how partners make money in a world where the transaction is no longer the main event.

Cisco entered the event with tremendous momentum, as its stock was up more than 50% over the past 12 months. Tim Coogan (pictured), senior vice president of global partner sales, told the 2,000 partners in attendance that channel bookings accounted for about 90% of Cisco’s total in fiscal 2026 and that global channel growth was just over 17%. Chief Executive Chuck Robbins called fiscal 2026 “the absolute best year that Cisco’s ever had.” Good years can mask structural change, though, and the announcements in Vancouver signal a real rethink of how value moves through Cisco’s partner ecosystem.

Here are my five takeaways that should matter to Cisco partners.

Influence now counts, not just transactions

The most significant change in Vancouver may also be the least flashy. Ecosystem Deal Registration gives advisers, consultants and developers formal credit for helping Cisco win a deal, even when they don’t execute it. This group of partners hasn’t received the same level of attention as traditional reseller partners, yet they are now critical in the AI era.

Today, that credit takes the form of marketing support and promotion alongside Cisco sellers. Starting next spring, preferred advisers and developers will be eligible for referral incentives. Cisco is also introducing dedicated Partner Value Indexes for advisors and developers, with a unified distributor index planned for 2027.

Coogan emphasized the importance of the change. “Our traditional programs were transaction-based,” he said during his portion of the keynote. “This is a unique way to bring the entire ecosystem of partners together into a single solution for the benefit of our customers.”

The data presented supports this change. Cisco cited Omdia research showing that customers rely on six to seven partners and pass through 28 moments of influence before buying. A program that pays only the partner holding the paper ignores most of what shapes the decision. The risk is channel conflict, and resellers will want proof that rewarding influence grows the pie rather than splitting it.

Robbins addressed the bumpiness of the Cisco 360 rollout and the company’s willingness to take corrective action. “We’re not perfect. We’ll screw it up, but we’ll fix it,” he said. This is a great example of his statement, and partners should continue to hold him to it.

Cisco IQ turns services into the business

If one announcement could change partner economics, it would be Cisco IQ Partner Branded Support Standard. Partners can now deliver Cisco IQ under their own brand, through their own experts, with role-based access to customer installed bases, application programming interfaces, IT service management integrations, and a Model Context Protocol server.

“For too long, partners entered customer conversations without the same view as Cisco. That changes today,” said Liz Centoni, executive vice president and chief customer experience officer. “It’s their name, their customer relationship and their services practice. Cisco IQ is the engine. Partners are the business.”

Centoni presented several compelling proof points. More than 16,000 customers and nearly 20 million devices are now on Cisco IQ. Generali reduced the time to assess a single security advisory across 16,000 devices from four days to 10 minutes. Georgetown University transformed two months of manual renewal work into a 20-minute view.

On stage, Centoni gave an example that quantified the opportunity. In her example, a partner who walks in to refresh 75 switches books about $625,000 and walks away. A partner who starts with Cisco IQ, identifies uncovered devices, sells hardening services, designs the refresh, and then runs managed operations across all 175 switches can reach roughly $1.3 million over five years, including incentives. That’s 2.1 times the value. “Basic gives you the map. Standard and Signature give you the GPS,” she said.

Cisco is backing that with a $2,500 adoption incentive per onboarded customer, a 6% deal registration on Standard and Signature support, and a $1 million Builders Challenge for partners who create managed services on Cisco IQ. My take is that Cisco is moving partners from project revenue to recurring revenue, where valuation multiples are higher. Partners who sell Cisco IQ as a support add-on will miss the point.

Mythos made modernization an emergency

For years, last-day-of-support conversations felt like a vendor pushing hardware. Robbins said as much. “When we used to stand up and talk about what we call LDOS (last day of support), people would go, ‘OK, that’s just the vendor trying to sell more equipment,’ and you would have been partially right,” he said. “Now the urgency of getting that equipment out of the infrastructure, equipment that can’t be patched and for which there are no spares, is a real emergency.”

Coogan provided the numbers that underscore the urgency. In 2018, more than two years passed between discovery and exploitation of a vulnerability. Last year, it was about three weeks. This year, it’s eight hours or less. Only 3% of partners named AI security a growth opportunity last year. This year, 33% did.

Cisco’s answer includes expanded Live Protect coverage, what it calls the industry’s first quantum-resilient Wi-Fi 7 access point, and Privileged Infrastructure Access, built with Teleport, which provides engineers and AI agents with short-lived, identity-bound access to routers and switches. Robbins framed the architecture this way: “If agents are operating across your infrastructure, the only common denominator they’re going to touch on a daily basis is the network.”

Robbins said only 8% of the installed base has been refreshed to Cisco’s new enterprise portfolio. But, in his words, customers are “overwhelmed.” The winning partners will present a phased plan outlining what to fix first and why. That’s an advisory skill, not a quoting skill.

Margin follows the platform

Mark Patterson, executive vice president and chief financial officer, has attended Partner Summit for more than 20 years, but this was his first time onstage. His session was among the day’s most useful because he discussed what motivates partners most: money. On price increases, he said, “Raising prices is the absolute last resort for us.” He added that the Nov. 7 increase targets memory-intensive products rather than being spread “in a peanut butter fashion.”

His most important point concerned margin. “The big takeaway is that margin follows the platform,” Patterson said. “You might lead with compute, but then you add networking, security, Splunk and observability. That’s where you’ll drive much of the margin.”

The incentives align with that view. The program adds an extra 2% cross-sell bonus for expanding into new Cisco architectures, including Splunk. It increases the reward for annual contract value growth by 50%, doubles adoption incentives, and offers 12% deal registration for Supermicro systems sold as part of full-stack AI infrastructure. Coogan also made an unusual admission about Splunk. “We moved slower on Splunk than we wanted to, than we should have, and that changes this year and it changes now,” he said.

Patterson also highlighted Cisco Capital as underused, noting that “the margins are paid entirely up front,” which helps partners build larger deals for customers with heavy technical debt. The message is that thin-margin compute is the entry point, not where the profit lies. With 91% of surveyed partners reporting that customers are concerned about AI costs, those who can design cost-efficient on-premises inference will capture the attached revenue.

Partners must become builders

The final insight concerns who builds value. Cisco is putting its own AI tooling directly into partners’ hands. Model Foundry, a new service within Cisco Cloud Control, gives partners first access to Cisco’s purpose-built models, including Deep Network for network troubleshooting. Partners can run these models via an OpenAI-compatible application programming interface and fine-tune them on customer data. Cloud Control Studio lets partners build agents for customers. New MCP servers for networking platforms eliminate the need to build custom integrations, and ThousandEyes synthetic testing is now built into eligible Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 access points at no additional cost.

Cisco is also turning AI on its own channel friction. Its Partner Experience Platform is being rebuilt to connect opportunity, quote, and payout in a single flow. An early agent-to-agent pilot with a distributor cuts the time to build a bill of materials by about 80%.

Coogan spoke about partners in a humble tone. “Our partners don’t owe us anything, and they don’t work for us,” he said. “We earn the right to work with them every day.” That mindset matters at Cisco, where they ask partners to invest in skills many don’t yet have. Partners reported that the AI knowledge gap is closing, but the hands-on deployment gap is widening.

What this means for partners

The 2026 Partner Summit marks the Cisco channel’s shift from a resale model to an intelligence-led services model. My advice to partners:

Move as many customers as possible from Basic support. Basic support provides customers with an inventory. Standard and Signature unlock the capabilities that create partner value: vulnerability prioritization, proactive risk intelligence, peer benchmarking, and quantum-readiness assessments. Centoni said Cisco has “far too many critical customers who have basic that should be on standard and signature,” and noted that customers on the higher tiers have net promoter scores 15 points higher, which translates into better retention and stronger renewals. With a $2,500 adoption incentive per onboarded customer and 6% deal registration on Standard and Signature, the economics reward partners who move now. Start by reviewing your installed base, identifying the critical accounts still on Basic, and letting a live Cisco IQ demo make the case.

Lead with resilience, not refresh. Customers know their equipment is old. What they lack is a clear sense of what to fix first. Use Cisco IQ and Cisco’s Resilient Infrastructure playbooks to build a phased, risk-ranked plan. First, address devices with no support. Then harden those staying in service. Finally, modernize gear past its last day of support or that can’t be patched. The new Quantum Safe and software End of Vulnerability Support assessments provide more evidence to scope that work. This approach turns a hardware conversation into a professional services engagement. When the customer says there’s no budget this year, it also gives you a plan to move the refresh into next year’s budget cycle. Customers will buy priorities, not part numbers.

Team up intentionally. Most customers already work with six to seven partners, and Ecosystem Deal Registration gives Cisco a formal way to reward the advisors, consultants, and developers who shape a deal without transacting it. Transacting partners should view this as a pipeline opportunity, not a threat. Identify the advisors who influence your largest accounts, the independent software vendors building on Meraki and Cisco Cloud Control, and the Splunk specialists who can fill gaps in your practice. Splunk is new to many Cisco partners, and for them, Coogan offered some advice. If another partner has the expertise your team needs, team up. Partners who map and formalize these relationships early will see larger, faster deals before competitors catch on.

Invest in builders. The next round of differentiation won’t come from offering a deeper discount. It will come from who can turn Cisco’s data and mo

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