Partners Hope Cisco-Supermicro Deal Will Fill ‘Gap’ Left By Cisco UCS Server Shipment Delays

‘Cisco cannot deliver UCS servers,’ says a top executive at a CRN Solution Provider 500 Cisco partner, who did not want to be identified. ‘Cisco cannot get the memory chips to deliver, and Supermicro has memory availability. This should ease the pressure we have been dealing with on UCS availability.’

Partners are hopeful a new partnership that opens the door for Cisco to offer Supermicro liquid- and air-cooled systems as part of its AI infrastructure portfolio will provide a much-needed alternative in the wake of shipment delays plaguing Cisco’s own Unified Computing System (UCS) servers, Cisco partners told CRN.

“Cisco cannot deliver UCS servers,” said a top executive for a CRN Solution Provider 500 Cisco partner, who did not want to be identified. “Cisco cannot get the memory chips to deliver, and Supermicro has memory availability. This should ease the pressure we have been dealing with on UCS availability.”

The sales executive said it is currently six to nine months to get a UCS server in the hands of a customer depending on the server or configuration.

The Solution Provider 500 sales executive said he is interested in getting further details on the compensation and technology capabilities of the Supermicro offering compared with a UCS server.

[Related: Cisco Execs To Partners: Cloud Control, AI Security Push Create New Monetization Openings]

Cisco said it intends to begin offering Supermicro compute offerings as part of the Secure AI Factory with Nvidia beginning in October 2026.

Supermicro shares were up 9 percent, or 98 cents per share, to $12.35 in midday trading in the wake of the announcement.

Cisco shares, meanwhile, were up 1 percent, or 70 cents per share, to $110.93 in mid-day trading.

Supermicro declined to comment on the deal with Cisco.

Cisco did not make an executive available to comment at press time.

A Cisco spokesperson, however, did tell CRN that this was the first time Cisco and Supermicro had signed a strategic partnership agreement.

Furthermore, in a question-and-answer document provided by Cisco, under the heading “How does this architecture address infrastructure supply chain constraints?” the response was: “Cisco’s global supply chain scale for AI networking systems, combined with Supermicro’s manufacturing and global supply chain scale for rack-scale AI systems and dense GPU servers, enables timely delivery of the infrastructure globally. This strength de-risks availability at a time when demand for GPUs, memory, CPUs, and SSDs is putting pressure on how quickly AI rack-scale systems can be built and shipped.”

The CEO of another CRN Solution Provider 500 Cisco partner, who did not want to be identified, said the ability to provide Supermicro servers is a big boost to partners that cannot get Cisco UCS servers.

“Obviously anything Cisco can do to provide additional server inventory so that they are more competitive in that segment is a good thing,” he said. “The big winner here is Supermicro. This gives them another channel for their servers. At the end of the day, Cisco does not have a full portfolio of rack-scale AI servers. This partnership fills in a gap in their portfolio. The question is: When do I pick UCS and when do I pick Supermicro?”

The CEO said Cisco UCS is facing intense competitive pressure because Cisco lacks the memory supply chain capabilities of larger competitors including Dell Technologies, HPE and Supermicro.

“The Cisco UCS market is composed of customers that have a Cisco UCS installed base,” the executive said. “In every other scenario they are looking at Dell, HPE, Supermicro and white label.”

The deals comes with Supermicro’s worldwide server revenue soaring 129 percent to $9.3 billion, with 7.6 percent market share, in the first calendar quarter of 2026, according to market researcher IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker.

Cisco, meanwhile, which reported double-digit growth for its compute business in the most recent quarter, does not show up in the top five rankings of IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker for the first calendar quarter of 2026.

Cisco said the deal with Supermicro expands its Secure AI Factory with Nvidia partnership.

The expanded Cisco Secure AI Factory with Nvidia offers Nvidia Cloud Partner-compliant solutions for neocloud and sovereign cloud customers, said Cisco.

The CEO for a top East Coast Cisco partner, who did not want to be identified, said the Supermicro partnership solves the supply chain issue with Cisco UCS.

“Cisco is supply constrained with UCS,” he said. “They realize they are not going to be able to get UCS in all data centers where AI workloads are running because of the UCS supply constraints so they are making sure that Cisco stays in every data center as the networking layer for AI connectivity. Cisco realizes UCS is in a no-win proposition at this point so they are focusing on the network layer.”

As to what “supply chain, Return Material Authorization (RMA), and support options are available” for partners, Cisco said in its question-and-answer document: “For Cisco products, its world-renowned supply chain offers diversity across build, stock, ship, and support. Customers can choose from a range of RMA options, including next-business day and 24x7x4, along with return-to-factory (RTF) service and warranty coverage. Supermicro's manufacturing scale, supply chain, and RMA options for their products give organizations the confidence that the compute they need will be delivered and supported on their timeline. Cisco manages L0 and L1 ticket triage for incoming requests, and routes to Supermicro as needed. Supermicro provides support for their products, ensuring coordinated resolution across the full stack.”