Updated: Jan 29, 2026
Cisco’s Preferred Partner status is not awarded in isolation. It sits within Cisco’s broader partner evaluation approach, including the Cisco 360 Partner framework, which emphasises measurable outcomes, customer success, and sustained delivery maturity.
This blog explains how Proactive Data Systems meets Cisco’s Preferred criteria across Networking, Cloud & AI Infrastructure, Collaboration, and Security, without repeating portfolio definitions or marketing claims. The focus is on operating discipline and how Proactive performs against what Cisco actually evaluates.
Cisco’s partner ecosystem has evolved beyond certifications and deal volume. Under the Cisco 360 Partner approach, partners are reviewed on how they deliver outcomes across the customer lifecycle.
This includes:
Preferred Partner status is therefore a reflection of ongoing performance within this broader evaluation model, not a standalone badge.
Across portfolios, Cisco looks for the same underlying behaviours, even though the technical domains differ.
Partners are expected to demonstrate:
The sections below explain how Proactive meets these expectations in each portfolio, without repeating framework language.
In networking, Cisco’s Preferred criteria focus on whether environments remain predictable as sites grow and usage patterns change.
Proactive meets this by:
Rather than optimising for one-time deployments, Proactive’s networking approach prioritises day-two behaviour, visibility, and long-term performance.
Cisco’s Cloud & AI Infrastructure evaluation looks at whether partners can support data-intensive workloads without destabilising existing systems.
Proactive meets these criteria by:
The emphasis is on infrastructure that absorbs new workloads predictably, rather than chasing architectural novelty.
For collaboration, Cisco evaluates partners on reliability, service continuity, and user adoption after rollout.
Proactive aligns with this by:
This ensures collaboration platforms remain usable and trusted long after initial deployment.
Cisco’s Preferred Security criteria emphasise identity-led control, policy consistency, and response discipline.
Proactive meets these expectations through:
Security is managed as a governance function, not a collection of tools.
Cisco 360 Partner evaluations focus on whether partners deliver repeatable customer outcomes.
Across portfolios, Proactive demonstrates:
This alignment explains how Preferred status is sustained, not just achieved.
Indian enterprises operate across distributed locations, regulated environments, and variable connectivity conditions.
Meeting Cisco’s Preferred criteria across portfolios reduces lifecycle risk by:
This is particularly relevant for organisations scaling across metros and Tier-2 cities.
Meeting Cisco’s Preferred criteria across Networking, Cloud & AI, Collaboration, and Security requires more than capability in each domain. It requires consistent operating discipline aligned with how Cisco evaluates partners under the Cisco 360 Partner approach.
That consistency is what sustains Preferred status over time.
