Partner Profitability, Incentives And How To Qualify: The Cisco 360 Update

Here’s what partners need to know about the soon-to-be revamped partner program’s benefits and incentives, the Cisco Partner Incentive Estimator, and how partners can get started as early as next month, Cisco tells CRN in an exclusive interview.

After the revelation last October that Cisco was poised to make sweeping changes to its distinct and industry-leading channel partner program, partners have been eagerly awaiting more details into how they will be evaluated and compensated within Cisco 360, the soon-to-be fully revamped partner program that’s rolling out in February 2026.

After the last nine months of co-design with partners in which Cisco collected feedback from its channel on the structure of the program and incentives, the tech giant is unveiling a series of updates, including a reworked value index across its six portfolios on which partners will be measured, incentives and benefits that are being shaped by new and important areas of technology for the tech giant, and a brand-new Cisco Partner Incentive Estimator, a tool that will help partners determine their profitability within the structure of the new program, Cisco told CRN exclusively.

Jason Gallo, vice president, partner value acceleration for Cisco, sat down with CRN to share more information on updated benefits and incentives, the Cisco Partner Incentive Estimator, and how partners can get started qualifying for the new program as early as August, six months ahead of Cisco 360’s launch.

Here’s what partners need to know.

Value Index Updates

The goal of the new partner program is to massively simplify the company’s existing partner program structure, which used to be comprised of 22 specializations and 15 business units, to now focusing on Cisco’s six portfolios: Networking, Security, Cloud and AI Infrastructure, Splunk, Collaboration and Services. The Value Index, first revealed in October, will measure partners across four areas: the foundational, capabilities, performance and engagement, across each of the six portfolios. From there, partners will be classified and access to specific benefits and incentives will become available based on the partners’ status within each portfolio — for example, a partner could become a Cisco Preferred Partner in security, etc.

Cisco last week released updated — and simplified — Value Index positions across all six portfolios. The updates were made based on partner feedback, Gallo told CRN.

“There may be a few tweaks here in the coming weeks, but we have landed on a set of scoring methodology [and] we’ve removed some of the metrics to make it even simpler,” he said.

Partner Designations

Perhaps one of the biggest and most controversial changes that Cisco 360 will prompt is that the sought-after Cisco Gold partner designation is going away. In its place will be two designations that partners can earn across each of the six portfolios: Cisco Partner and Cisco Preferred Partner.

“We think that does a great job in really highlighting the depth of capabilities that the partner can bring within that area, focused on the customer and helping them to display that they’re a very invested and deeply capable partner in that particular portfolio,” Gallo said.

Partners can expect a marketing toolkit for the new Cisco Partner logo to be launched at Partner Summit 2025 in November, Gallo said. The toolkit right now has been introduced to a small focus group of Cisco partners.

“Partners are already telling us they love … the fact that Cisco is conditioning the market and the customers to understand the Preferred branding and [why] this new Cisco 360 is important,” Gallo said.

Changes In Incentives

While new incentives will become unlocked based on partners’ designations, Cisco 360 is doing away with separate partner benefits and incentives programs such as VIP, Perform Plus, and CSPP. These will instead be folded into a single structure called Cisco Partner Incentive (CPI), which will launch in February 2026.

CPI, said Cisco, which will mirror the overall Value Index that will measure partners.

Before the launch of Cisco 360 in 2026, however, Cisco Services Partner Program payouts are being adjusted and the Monthly Value Rebate for Cisco Success Tracks are being retired on July 27 ahead of the rollout of the consolidated CPI structure. The VIP rates, which also reflect the shift in Cisco’s overall strategy, will be released in July.

Cisco said that it’s not eliminating incentives, but instead “shifting incentives toward areas like technology innovation rooted in AI and security, software adoption, renewals, and deeper customer engagement that supports long-term growth.”

Gallo said that these changes will simplify the Cisco partner program “management” piece for partners because historically, different incentives programs, such as VIP and Perform Plus, had different timelines, requirements and payout rates.

The CPI will be housed inside Cisco’s Partner Experience Platform, known as PXP.

Cisco Partner Incentive Estimator

With all the changes to the partner program and incentive structure, Cisco partners have been waiting on bated breath for the introduction of the Cisco Partner Incentive Estimator, a tool that will help partners determine their profitability within the structure of the new partner program.

The Estimator, which will be generally available to partners to use in August, will let partners dial up and down the new “knobs” of Cisco 360, which will be Land, Adopt, Expand and Renew, to determine compensation within the new partner structure, Gallo said.

“Historically, we had these four programs in particular that really stand out: VIP, Perform Plus, the Lifecycle Incentive and [Cisco Services Partner Program] CSPP. And as we go into the new structure, it brings those together into Land, Adopt, Expand and Renew. The estimator, which is against [the new Cisco Partner incentive structure] will allow you to dial up and down the expectations that the individual partner may have in terms of how much they’re landing in a certain portfolio, how much adoption will they be driving, which equates to certain incentives, how much expansion within a portfolio will they grow on top of a current customer base and recurring revenue, and then ultimately, the renewal,” he said.

The Cisco Partner Incentive Estimator is now available for the tech giant’s partner-facing teams to use in conversations with their partners, according to Cisco.

Getting Started

Cisco partners around the globe can get an early start in qualifying for the new program as soon as August, according to Cisco.

For each of the six portfolios, the highest Partner Value Index position that a partner achieves between August 2025 and February 2026 will determine their level when Cisco 360 is launched in February 2026. Based on the Partner Value Index reached in this early qualification period, the partners’ status will be locked in for 18 months through August 2027, according to Elisabeth De Dobbeleer, senior vice president, Cisco Partner Program.

“We’ve added this additional six-month eligibility extension on top of the normal ‘up to 12 months’ eligibility period to ensure we support our partners through their transition into the new program structure,” she said.

De Dobbeleer said that if a partner increases their position throughout this period, higher Benefits and Designations will be unlocked in that respective month. If their position decreases, they will remain at the prior level for the remainder of the 18 months.