Cisco Preferred Partner. Proven where it matters

After nearly three decades working in the Cisco ecosystem, it’s not often you get to say you’ve witnessed a once‑in‑a‑generation shift. But that’s exactly what the newly re‑imagined Cisco Partner 360 Program represents — the most far‑reaching transformation of Cisco’s partner framework in over 30 years. It’s a complete rethink of how Cisco measures and empowers partners, grounded firmly in customer value and the realities of today’s AI‑driven, security‑first, hybrid‑everything world. Designed not only to modernise how partners work with Cisco but to improve outcomes for customers through better expertise, higher‑quality solutions, and more predictable value delivery.

boxxe has been recognised as a Cisco Preferred Partner across Networking, Security, AI & Cloud and Services, which is the highest Cisco Partner status.

And we couldn’t be more excited — because frankly, it feels like the program has been designed around the way we’ve always operated a discovery led approached anchored in deep technical excellence, genuine customer intimacy, relentless innovation, and a laser focus on business outcomes. Let’s unpack what’s changed, why it matters, and what customers can expect from this new era.

For decades, Cisco’s Gold / Premier / Select tiers were the industry shorthand for technical capability. They were rigorous, meaningful, and they served the industry well. But they were also built for a world where technology was purchased in boxes, architectures were more static or siloed, and cloud was something we talked about in the future tense. Cisco themselves understood this needed to evolve — and they’ve now replaced that static, certification‑led system with a value‑driven, outcome‑aligned model that measures what truly counts for customers:

• The impact partners deliver

• The breadth of solutions they can integrate

• The consistency of customer experience

• The quality of services

• The value delivered across the full lifecycle

• Their readiness for AI, automation, and next‑generation architectures

Partners are measured on real outcomes, not just Certifications under the old Gold / Premier system, customers often had to infer capability based on badges. Moving forward, partners are assessed on actual performance, customer success, and the value they deliver across the full lifecycle. A more frequent measure to ensure the Partner status level is reflected more accurately to give customers a more predictable experience. Helping them choose the right partner with confidence. More AI‑Ready, Future‑Proof Solutions, built Around Customer Priorities, Not Vendor Structures. The program recognises partners to specialise in AI‑ready infrastructure, secure networking, multicloud, automation, security & services— areas the modern organisations depend on.  Cisco’s Partner Levels now align directly to customer value guiding partners to deliver what organisations truly need. Thereby supporting:

• More integrated solutions

• Greater consistency across deployments

• Architecture’s purpose‑built for tomorrow

The measures of a Partner are across 4 key areas and the partner must score at least 7.5 / 10 to be classed as a ‘Preferred Partner’ in the architecture. There are 5 main architectures – Networking / Security / AI & Cloud / Services / Collaboration.  Later, Splunk & Observability will be integrated into the program.

Foundational - This dimension evaluates the maturity and strength of a partner’s operational and lifecycle practices. It looks at how well the partner delivers lifecycle value, manages services, and embeds customer‑centric processes.

Capabilities - This reflects a partner’s technical expertise, skills, certifications, and investments in talent, tooling, and resources aligned to each Cisco portfolio.

Performance - This evaluates customer‑facing business results and tracks a partner’s success in growing and retaining customers across the lifecycle

Engagement - This dimension measures the partner’s active involvement and influence in helping customers effectively adopt technology they have purchased.

One of the reasons we’re energised by the shift is that the new framework champions the qualities boxxe has always believed matter most. Boxxe has always had its own equation to define and measure trust. A very quick version is that it is deeply rooted in Credibility + Reliability + Customer Intimacy. The program reinforces that, as part of Credibility is all about technical capability and demonstrating we are the experts. The same for Reliability, the clear expectations set and the quality and consistency of the experience we provide our customers. Essentially, clear expectations that are consistently met and predictable. Intimacy, both with our customers, understanding their objectives, challenges, and desired outcomes but also the vendor technology and really combining that deep knowledge to add true value.

boxxe holds the highest Cisco Partner status across Networking, Security, AI & Cloud and Services, with Expert status in both Customer Experience and Managed Services.

1. Technical excellence where it counts

Cisco’s new Partner Program, specialisations, and next‑gen certifications place a premium on truly modern skills — AI‑ready infrastructure, secure networking, automation, cloud management and cross‑architecture capability.
This plays directly to our established strengths across secure networking, digital transformation, managed services, and cloud‑smart design.

2. Customer intimacy as a core metric (finally!)

The introduction of the Partner Value Index gives customers transparent insight into partner performance, predictability, and outcomes.
This is huge. We’ve built boxxe on long‑term relationships and ongoing value delivery — and now Cisco is explicitly measuring and rewarding exactly that.

3. Innovation that feeds real‑world impact

Cisco’s shift toward AI, automation, and integrated architectures mirrors our approach to designing solutions that are future‑ready and operationally transformative for customers. Building a suite of applications called boxxe labs on top of Cisco platforms is a true example of this. Impact across Automation, Sustainability, Business Continuity & Actionable Insights. Partners are now recognized for delivering innovation that matters, not innovation for its own sake.

4. Outcome‑driven engagement, not badge‑driven transactions

For nearly 30 years, we’ve focused on solving real business challenges rather than chasing labels — and the new program’s outcome alignment validates that philosophy at a global scale.

This is the biggest Cisco partner program transformation in a generation — and it’s one that aligns perfectly with where the market is heading and where boxxe has always been strongest. The shift away from Gold certification doesn’t represent a loss of rigour; it represents a reinvention of relevance. It puts the focus where it belongs: on outcomes, innovation, impact, and customer success.

At boxxe, we’re ready. More than that — we’re built for this. And we can’t wait to show our customers what the next era of partnership looks like. We welcome any opportunity to share our excitement and approach with any organisation that feels they would benefit from engaging with us. Be warned, our passion for technology is infectious!