After more than a year, of designing and building the Cisco 360 Partner Program – and now with the launch in sight – it’s clear that we did much more than create a new program with a new name. We built a stronger, deeper community that will deliver greater value for our customers.
The work Cisco and our partners did together was transformative. It brought us closer, inspired greater trust, strengthened relationships, and gave us a clear, shared vision of what it will take to serve customers in a market where everyone must move faster and work smarter.
Looking back at our journey, there were three key elements of our approach that enriched our relationship with partners:
- Listening
- Co-designing
- Earning Trust
Listening Leads to Change
We asked our partners to tell us what they thought about transforming a decades-old partner program into the new Cisco 360 Partner Program — and we committed to listening deeply, intentionally, and consistently. Listening requires action on both sides. When partners spoke, we had to hear and digest their feedback. It required us to have honest conversations internally about what needed to change and the courage to rethink legacy approaches.
Listening became the catalyst to examine every decision, every feature, and every incentive as we shaped the new program. Partners felt seen, heard, and empowered to influence the program’s direction and to share the diverse perspectives of their collective customer base. It’s how we know the Cisco 360 Partner Program reflects the voices of the community it serves.
Co-design as a Guiding Principle
We said from the outset that co-designing the new program with our partners was a core principle. It wasn’t just a step in the process—it was the process. We engaged our partners iteratively through workshops, regional forums, surveys, intake forms, and countless one-on-one conversations. We asked them to challenge us, test our ideas, and debate every theory as we worked with agility, to build and release features on a roadmap to launch.
This process yielded invaluable insights, like friction points, operational challenges and regional nuances – insights that were unattainable through standard reports and dashboards. Co-design ensured visibility to our thought process and objectives and shared ownership of the program that we built together.
Earning Trust
There’s something powerful about doing important work together. When people share a goal and a purpose, they become invested – not just in the outcome, but in one another. Working together, we gained deeper appreciation for each other’s perspectives and a higher level of respect. We operated with transparency and honesty and created a foundation for trust to grow.
Trust is earned through actions, honest communication, and consistent follow-through. That’s why Cisco gave partners unprecedented visibility to our strategy and operations. They saw their insights reflected in decisions, incentives, and program design and leaned in even more. Our shared accomplishment is more than a new partner program; it’s a renewed partnership and more trusted relationship.
The Future Together
We always say that partners are part of Cisco’s DNA, but the journey we took together has taken that mantra to the next level – it has elevated partners to a higher position within Cisco and for our joint customers.
Cisco has over 30,000 partners, large and small, experts in every architecture, ready to meet every customer need, and engage around the world. Through the co-design process, the voice of our partners resonated throughout the company. Cisco listened and responded with action – recognition of how profoundly our partners shape our strategy and our joint success.
With launch day just ahead, we’ll continue doing what matters most: listening to our partners, learning together, and shaping what comes next. We’ve reimagined the world we work in — and now we move forward united by purpose, trust, and respect to deliver the most innovative outcomes for our customers.
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