# The New Partner Operating Model: Turning Intelligence into Action with Cisco IQ > Source: > Published: 2026-10-26 19:45:50+00:00 It’s been a year since Liz Centoni [shared a bold vision](https://blogs.cisco.com/news/cisco-iq-is-the-engine-partners-are-the-business) for infrastructure management that moves at machine speed. A year since the announcement of Cisco IQ. In this short amount of time, over 16,000 customers are already running Cisco IQ across close to 20 million connected devices. Those numbers tell a story: what was a bold vision a year ago is now an operational imperative. Advancements in AI have fundamentally altered the threat landscape, collapsing the window between vulnerability disclosure and exploitation from weeks to minutes. Risks are growing beyond human scale, and our customers are feeling the pressure to keep pace. Today’s complexity demands a new engagement model for our partners, one where they own the customer relationship through deep, platform-centric intelligence. According to the IDC White Paper, sponsored by Cisco, *Business Value of Cisco IQ*,[\[1\]](#_ftn1) Cisco IQ is able to determine which devices are affected by a security advisory **96 times faster** **than historical methods**, making it the perfect engine to help partners drive that shift. Building on that momentum, it’s time to take the next step. ## **A New Operating Model Fueled by Cisco IQ Intelligence** Today, for our partner ecosystem, we’re announcing the **general availability of Cisco IQ** alongside **Cisco Partner Support – Standard**. For the first time, partners can own the complete experience under their own brand, delivered by their own experts, and create their own service offerings for customers, powered by Cisco IQ. Customers can now give partners visibility into their infrastructure with **Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) within Cisco IQ**. This allows partners to prioritize infrastructure needs, identify risks, and secure customer environments—all while customers remain in full control of their data. In addition, **APIs, MCP Server and ITSM integrations** are now available. By integrating Cisco IQ’s production APIs and the new Cisco IQ MCP Server into their own systems, partners can weave infrastructure intelligence into the very fabric of their delivery workflows. Whether they are using their own AI agents, ITSM tools, or managed services platforms, Cisco IQ provides the live feed of data required to move from reactive ticket-chasing to proactive, agentic IT management. Cisco IQ gives partners unprecedented power to turn intelligence into meaningful, deep customer engagements. The previously mentioned IDC study on the *Business Value of Cisco IQ[**\[2\]**](#_ftn2)* shows a remarkable **5.7 times faster** **ability to turn raw data into a prioritized action plan.** Together, these updates allow our partners to build a new practice built on Cisco IQ intelligence and a deeper understanding of their customers’ needs. ## **A Shift in the Partner Practice Opportunity** To help partners navigate this shift, we’ve mapped out the partner opportunity with Cisco IQ: With the AI threat landscape, these steps should be repeated on a recurring basis, creating an ongoing customer engagement and an opportunity to realize **2.1x greater partner profitability with Cisco IQ**. To drive this loop effectively, integrate Cisco IQ data into your operating models to reduce cost-to-serve and scale your expertise across your entire portfolio. ## **Early Field Trials Offer a Blueprint** Over the past six months, we conducted Cisco IQ Early Field Trials with 38 partners globally. We integrated their feedback, and here are their views on the value of Cisco IQ one year on. ###### Cisco IQ: One Year On Testimonial Video One of the key themes of this year’s Partner Summit is “innovate continuously”. In that spirit, we are working with leading IT Service Management (ITSM) companies to leverage the Cisco APIs and MCP interfaces to show the art of the possible with Cisco IQ: As Uday Kiran, VP and Head of Network, Security, Sports & Entertainment Verticals at **Wipro** noted: *“In the era of the autonomous enterprise, Cisco and Wipro are bringing together a platform-centric approach to AIOps… to drive more proactive, autonomous IT operations.”* Adding, John Aisien, SVP of Central Product Management at **ServiceNow** said: *“Cisco IQ gives customers trusted intelligence at each stage: what they own, how they perform, what is coming up, and what to do next. Bringing this intelligence into ServiceNow workflows turns insight into action. Customers get more accurate asset data, faster response to issues, and changes that are governed from request to closure. For managed service provider partners, this creates a scalable, repeatable way to run this lifecycle across every environment they manage.”* ## **Prepare for What’s Next. Protect What Matters. Build More Resilient** **Infrastructure****.** As the pace of threats accelerates, we continue to release new Cisco IQ capabilities that give both partners and customers an unfair advantage: - **Personalized Alerts for Known Defects:** Proactively identify software risks before they trigger an outage. - **Contextual Troubleshooting:** Ground your support interactions in the Cisco IQ AI Assistant with real-time diagnostic device data and deep TAC insights. - **Software Conformance Assessment** : Evaluate infrastructure against Cisco’s recommended releases to ensure optimal stability and security, with clear remediation roadmaps. - **Streamlined RMA:** Simplify the returns process via the AI Assistant, freeing your engineers for higher-value tasks. - **Extension of** **Resilient Infrastructure Playbook to Air-Gapped deployments:** This expansion includes Quantum Readiness insights, Certificate Insights, Software Conformance, and IOS-XE Software Upgrades - **Assessments Powered by Cisco IQ Link:** New cryptographic collection enables quantum readiness assessments. With these powerful capabilities, the question is: what will you build? Across the globe, I see partners striving to differentiate and deliver more impactful outcomes. To support this, we are launching the **Cisco Builders Challenge**—a call to turn innovation into impact.  We invite developers, architects, and practice leaders to leverage Cisco IQ to create remarkable solutions: new managed services, reimagined workflows, and modernized customer experiences for securing and operating infrastructure. To fuel this creativity, we are offering a **$1 million prize pool** for the most innovative services powered by Cisco IQ. More details are coming soon, but you can start today by onboarding customers to Cisco IQ, activating IQ Link, and running the Resilient Infrastructure Playbook. Cisco IQ creates a bridge. The question isn’t whether to cross it; It’s how fast. In the words of Christina Jovanovic, CX Practice Director at **Computacenter:** *“There’s no going back. It’s only onward and upward. Our customers expect an AI-enabled, personalized experience, and Cisco IQ gives partners the foundation to deliver an enhanced experience and add even more value.”* ### Access Black Belt Learning Maps [Visit CX On Message For Partners](https://salesresources.cisco.com/Link/Content/DChJWpBX6X38W84HB97RBG49pgMB) [\[1\]](#_ftnref1) IDC BV Snapshot, sponsored by Cisco, The Business Value of Cisco IQ, doc #US54954826-BVS, October 2026 [\[2\]](#_ftnref2) IDC BV Snapshot, sponsored by Cisco, The Business Value of Cisco IQ, doc #US54954826-BVS, October 2026