After a rigorous evaluation of 11 data center networking vendors, Cisco was named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Data Center Network Solutions, Q3 2026 report. We are incredibly proud to receive this recognition, earning the highest score possible in 16 of the 32 evaluated criteria. Most notably, we received the highest score among all evaluated vendors in the Strategy category.
This recognition is a massive milestone and validates for us our evolution to a unified platform. At the center is Cisco Cloud Control, delivering a consistent AgenticOps experience across the Cisco portfolio. The Cisco Nexus One architecture underpins this vision for the data center by integrating with Cisco Cloud Control to provide unified management, automation, and intelligence—from silicon to workload.
A leader by the numbers
For this evaluation, Forrester specifically assessed our offerings of the Cisco Nexus Series switches and the Cisco Nexus Dashboard. Earning a place in the Leaders category was driven by 5.00 out of 5.00 marks in 16 of the 32 criteria: Vision, Roadmap, Partner ecosystem, Community, Supporting services and offerings, Microsegmentation, Zero Trust, Nonstop Switch Operations, Active-Active Data Centers, Application Visibility, Identifying Issues, Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC), Declarative Transformation, Customer Resources, Power Management and AI Infrastructure Support.
A cohesive approach that unifies networking, security, and observability – from silicon to Kubernetes
As Forrester notes in their report, Cisco has the largest market share in the data center networking space. Today, we serve over 50K+ customers worldwide with the Nexus portfolio across a spectrum of enterprises, service providers, hyperscalers, neoclouds, and sovereign clouds.
Whether talking to a hyperscaler with 100s of thousands of GPUs or an enterprise navigating modernizing an aging infrastructure for this new balance of traditional and AI workloads, we hear one clear message over and over again: environments are getting more complex, but operations need to be simpler. With that in mind, we have taken deliberate steps to deliver platform-level experiences that dismantle disparate systems and make it easier for customers to manage environments despite distributed applications, workforces, and workloads.
That’s why our team was especially excited to see that Forrester’s report notes that “[Cisco’s] vision and roadmap stand out by presenting a cohesive approach that unifies networking, security, and observability under centralized policy and control.” Having centralized policy and control has never been more critical than now with AI and agentic workloads.
A key example of this strategy is our integration of Isovalent and Cisco Nexus One. With 66% of organizations now utilizing Kubernetes for generative AI inference, we are extending a consistent, standards-based network directly from the fabric into the container environment. The result is native connectivity, identity-aware policy, and unified visibility across cloud-native and traditional workloads.
Other key findings from Forrester’s evaluation profile of Cisco include:
- No Major Weaknesses: In the capabilities category, Forrester’s evaluation specifically notes that “[Cisco] lacks any major weaknesses.”
- Integrated Security and Operational Consistency: Forrester positions Cisco as best suited for large, risk-averse enterprises that prioritize integrated security and end-to-end operational consistency across hybrid environments.
- Application Visibility and Analytics: Forrester notes how Cisco’s “traffic analytics and root cause analysis reveal service impact and blast radius.”
A commitment to our customers
Cisco is the foundation of many of the world’s data center buildouts. This recognition is a testament to our relentless innovation and the trust our customers place in us. Our forward-looking strategy is clear: we are doubling down on the Cisco Nexus One architecture to deliver even deeper integration between networking, security, and observability for seamless experiences.
As we continue to co-engineer with broad technology partners and communities, we are focused on making the “agentic era” not just manageable, but a catalyst for innovation. We are committed to one goal: ensuring your data center remains your greatest competitive advantage, providing the unified, secure, and intelligent foundation you need to lead your industry.
Thank you to our customers and partners for being part of this journey.
Check out the full report: Forrester Wave™: Data Center Network Solutions, Q3 2026
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Forrester disclaimer: Forrester does not endorse any company, product, brand, or service included in its research publications and does not advise any person to select the products or services of any company or brand based on the ratings included in such publications. Information is based on the best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. This report is part of a broader collection of Forrester resources, including interactive models, frameworks, tools, data, and access to analyst guidance. For more information, read about Forrester’s objectivity here: https://www.forrester.com/about-us/objectivity/
