Analyst(s): Alex Smith
Publication Date: November 7, 2025
What is Covered in this Article:
- The debut of Cisco Unified Edge to support real-time AI inferencing at the edge.
- Cisco’s strategy for AI-ready data centers and future-proof workplaces.
- The upcoming details shared on the Cisco 360 Partner Program and new specializations in the AI era.
- The launch of Cisco IQ and the evolution of security with Splunk integration.
The Event: The Cisco Partner Summit 2025 took place in San Diego, California, emphasizing Cisco’s vision centered on three core areas: building out AI data centers, establishing future-proof workplaces, and ensuring digital resilience across the infrastructure.
The product focus for the AI-era infrastructure began with data center announcements, including the P200 Silicon and 8223 routers for ultra-high-performance scale-out networking. This was complemented by the introduction of Nexus smart switches, designed for direct security integration into the network fabric.
The biggest new platform debut was the Cisco Unified Edge, an integrated computing solution for distributed AI workloads. The platform combines compute, networking, storage, and security into a single, modular system, which Cisco states extends data center power and scale to the edge. This is intended to address the expectation that the majority of enterprise data will be created and processed at the edge, requiring real-time AI inference capabilities.
Security and services were significant themes, anchored by the Splunk acquisition and the launch of Cisco IQ. Cisco IQ is a new AI-powered digital interface that consolidates real-time insights, on-demand assessments, troubleshooting, and automation across professional services and support. It is designed to use agentic AI to continually adapt to a customer’s environment, helping IT teams simplify operations and achieve greater resiliency. This move supports Cisco’s long-standing pitch of integrated security and networking, further powered by the integration of Splunk as a foundation for machine data analysis for the AI era.
Finally, the Summit shared key elements and updates to the upcoming Cisco 360 Partner Program, which launches on January 25, 2026. These updates included the introduction of new next-generation specializations, such as Secure AI Infrastructure, and new incentive bonuses designed to reward partners for portfolio breadth and depth of expertise.
Getting Edge Ready for Prime Time
The debut of the Cisco Unified Edge platform is a critical, complex component of Cisco’s strategy to own the AI-era infrastructure. The challenge at the edge has historically been the immense variety of environments, making a consistent, replicable solution difficult to deliver. Cisco is aiming to overcome this by offering a full-stack, converged solution of compute, storage, networking, and security, managed centrally via Intersight.
While the Unified Edge is a necessary product for Cisco, its ultimate market success will depend on the channel’s ability to identify key use cases and engage through simplified deployment. Cisco demonstrated how AI-driven network automation can reduce setup time from hours to seconds. This is the key metric to watch: can partners consistently deliver this operational simplicity, or will the complexity of a converged platform cause it to stall like the many AI pilots out there?
Security, Splunk, and the New AI-era Infrastructure Fabric
The renewed emphasis on integrated security and networking is given new life by the Splunk acquisition and the launch of Cisco IQ. This isn’t just about combining products; it’s about making Cisco the machine data fabric for the AI-era infrastructure. By ingesting over 2000 external data sources and offering Cisco firewall ingest, the company is aggressively challenging existing security and observability vendors to provide a more open, data-agnostic platform.
The launch of Cisco IQ provides the AI-powered interface needed to process this unified data. By transforming support from reactive fixes to proactive and predictive enablers, Cisco is shifting the cognitive load away from IT teams. The call-to-action for partners to open a Splunk practice is a direct instruction for the channel to evolve from selling point security products to architecting data-driven digital resilience services. This transition is essential for partners to secure their place in the value chain of the new AI-era infrastructure.
The Partner Playbook for Predictable Growth
The Cisco 360 Partner Program updates are a strategic move to ensure the channel remains an agile, profitable engine for the new AI-era infrastructure. By rewarding specialization in areas like Secure AI Infrastructure and providing clarity through new incentives, Cisco is deliberately steering its ecosystem toward integrated solutions. This program evolution is crucial for helping partners navigate the transition to selling the complex “one Cisco story” and ensuring they can capture the immense AI market opportunity with predictable profitability.
What to Watch:
- Unified Edge Deployment Velocity: Monitor the speed and scale of Cisco Unified Edge platform deployments to determine whether its promised operational simplicity translates into rapid, profitable adoption by the channel.
- Splunk Practice Build-Out: The success of Cisco’s data-driven security strategy relies on partners creating robust Splunk practices. Competitors will monitor this adoption rate closely as Cisco aims to consolidate the observability and security markets.
- Competitive Convergence at the Edge: Look for competitive responses from rivals like HPE/Aruba, Dell, and Juniper to counter the integrated Cisco Unified Edge platform with their own converged-edge offerings and services.
- Cisco IQ Efficacy: Monitor customer and partner feedback on the new Cisco IQ interface to determine if it genuinely delivers on its promise of transforming support and customer experience with proactive, agentic AI.
You can read more at Cisco’s website.
Disclosure: Futurum is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of Futurum as a whole.
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Author Information
Alex is Vice President & Practice Lead, Ecosystems, Channels, & Marketplaces at the Futurum Group. He is responsible for establishing and maintaining the Channels Research program as part of the overall Futurum GTM and Channels Practice. This includes overseeing the channel data rollout in the Futurum Intelligence Platform, primary research activities such as research boards and surveys, delivering thought-leading research reports, and advising clients on their indirect go-to-market strategies. Alex also supports the overall operations of the Futurum Research Business Unit, including P&L segmentation, sales and marketing alignment, and budget planning.
Prior to joining Futurum, Alex was VP of Channels & Enterprise Research at Canalys where he led a multi-million dollar research organization with more than 20 analysts. He played an integral role in helping the Canalys research organization migrate into Omdia after having been acquired in 2023. He is an accomplished research leader, as well as an expert in indirect go-to-market strategies. He has delivered numerous keynotes at partner-facing conferences.
Alex is based in Portland, Oregon, but has lived in numerous places, including California, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and the UK. He has a Bachelor in Commerce and Finance Major from Dalhousie University, Halifax Canada.
