Cisco
Procurement partnerAbout
Cisco develops networking, security, and collaboration technologies for AI infrastructure, data centers, and enterprise networks. The company provides hardware, software, and services that power networking infrastructure for hyperscalers, service providers, enterprises, and data centers.
Details
VenSearch Intelligence
Ideal Customer
- Cisco's primary sweet spot is large enterprises, public sector organizations, and service providers — customers with complex, multi-location networking needs and significant security, compliance, and collaboration requirements.
- Its 10-K defines enterprise customers as large regional, national, or global organizations with multiple locations, though it also actively targets mid-market and SMB segments (especially via its cloud-managed Meraki product line).
Key Differentiators
- Cisco's primary differentiation is its unmatched breadth of portfolio — spanning networking silicon to security software to collaboration and observability — all converging on a single AI-powered platform architecture.
- Cisco claims to be the only vendor recognized across three Gartner Magic Quadrant reports (UCaaS, CCaaS, and CPaaS) simultaneously, and has been named a Gartner MQ Leader for UCaaS for 8 consecutive years, SD-WAN for 5 consecutive years, and Data Center/Enterprise LAN Networking for multiple consecutive years.
Industries Served
- Cisco serves virtually every major industry vertical including financial services, government/public sector, healthcare, education, manufacturing, retail, energy/utilities, oil and gas, transportation, mining, sports/media/entertainment, hospitality, and smart cities.
- In healthcare, Cisco provides medical-grade networking, telehealth, and IoT-connected care solutions compliant with patient privacy mandates; in financial services, it addresses regulatory compliance and data security needs; in government, it serves federal, state, and local agencies including defense and law enforcement.
Service Coverage
- Cisco is a global technology company operating across more than 90 countries with over 275 offices worldwide, managing regional operations from three geographic hubs: Americas (San Jose, CA), EMEA (Amsterdam, Netherlands), and APJC (Singapore).
- The company reports revenue across three segments — Americas, Europe/Middle East/Africa, and Asia-Pacific/Japan/China — with significant owned facilities in the US (San Jose, Research Triangle Park NC, Richardson TX) and major leased international sites in Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Germany, India, Israel, Norway, Poland, and the UK.
Partnerships
- Cisco maintains deep strategic co-engineering and cloud partnerships with Microsoft, AWS, and Google Cloud — its AI Defense product now supports all three hyperscaler platforms, and Cisco solutions are available through Azure Marketplace and AWS Marketplace.
- Approximately 90% of Cisco's revenue flows through its channel partner ecosystem, which comprises over 37,000–40,000 partners globally (per Partner Locator) spanning VARs, distributors, SIs, ISVs, MSPs, and OEMs.
Company Size & Ownership
- Cisco was founded on December 10, 1984, by Leonard Bosack and Sandy Lerner in San Francisco, CA, and went public on NASDAQ (ticker: CSCO) in February 1990.
- As of July 2025, Cisco has approximately 86,200 employees globally and reported FY2025 revenue of $56.65 billion and FY2026 (TTM) revenue of approximately $63.3 billion.
Compliance & Certifications
- Cisco holds a broad portfolio of compliance certifications across its product lines, including SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, FedRAMP Moderate (Umbrella for Government, ATO August 2024), and CSA STAR.
- Its Trust Portal provides customers with self-service access to SOC, FedRAMP, ISO, and C5 audit reports, penetration test letters, GDPR/privacy data sheets, and security questionnaires.
Compiled from public sources by VenSearch · Last researched October 13, 2026
Offerings
15 offeringsCisco 8000 Series
Backbone and AI network switches that deliver secure performance, open networking flexibility, and operational simplicity at high speed and scale. Powers backbone networks with scalable switching capabilities.
Cisco AI Canvas
Generative workspace for AgenticOps that brings cross-domain telemetry, teams, and agents into one unified environment. Agents investigate and propose solutions while operators supervise and approve execution for incident resolution.
Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI)
Infrastructure solution that operates AI-ready data centers with agility by automating networking, enforcing microsegmentation, and applying zero-trust security consistently.
Cisco C9350 Series Smart Switches
Stackable fixed access switches that deliver security, scale, and flexibility for AI enterprise environments. Features up to 1.6 Tbps stacked bandwidth, microsecond latency, post-quantum encryption, and energy optimization for smart buildings.
Cisco N9000 Series Switches
High-density switches powered by Cisco silicon that run AI fabrics with secure 400G-1.6T connectivity, AI-optimized traffic handling, and power-efficient designs built for demanding workloads.
Cisco Nexus One
Unified solution with network intelligence from silicon to software that deploys AI faster and securely. Provides unified operations through Nexus Dashboard on-premises and Hyperfabric in the cloud.
Cisco NX-OS
Network operating system that delivers high-performance AI networking with low latency, lossless Ethernet, and intelligent congestion management plus enterprise-grade automation and security.
Cisco SD-WAN
Software-defined WAN solution that provides performance-optimized, centrally managed approach to resilient WAN traffic transport with multi-region fabric capabilities. Features application-aware routing, centralized policy and control for WAN connectivity.
Cisco Secure Routers
Routers with embedded next-generation security including AI-powered automation, post-quantum cryptography, and seamless cloud management. Provides stronger WAN security, quantum-safe cryptography, and integrated threat protection.
Cisco Silicon One
Unified, programmable networking architecture that delivers unmatched routing and switching capabilities for AI and networking needs. Powers both Cisco and third-party systems with scalable, programmable silicon for hyperscalers, data centers, service providers, and enterprises.
Cisco ThousandEyes
Cloud-based network assurance platform that provides real-time visibility, monitoring, and insights across internet, cloud, and enterprise networks. Delivers end-to-end visibility and accelerates troubleshooting of network issues.
Cisco Validated
Documentation and best practices service that helps IT architects and practitioners design, deploy, and operate platforms. Provides system designs, configuration instructions, and validated guides for faster deployments.
Splunk SIEM & Observability
The most widely deployed enterprise SIEM platform — Cisco acquired Splunk for $28B in March 2024. Splunk Enterprise Security (SIEM) ingests machine data from any source, detects threats with correlation rules and ML, and powers SOC workflows. Splunk Observability Cloud provides APM, infrastructure monitoring, and real user monitoring for cloud-native applications. Used by 90% of Fortune 100 companies. FedRAMP Moderate authorized. The enterprise SOC platform most commonly evaluated alongside Microsoft Sentinel.
Webex Calling
Enterprise-grade cloud PBX solution that replaces traditional on-premises phone systems with cloud-delivered calling, voicemail, auto-attendant, call routing, and PSTN connectivity in over 85 countries. Supports desk phones, desktop clients, and mobile apps with features including hunt groups, call queues, and Survivable Branch Appliance for continuity during internet outages.
Webex Suite
AI-powered unified communications platform that combines cloud calling, video meetings, team messaging, whiteboarding, and webinars in a single application across desktop and mobile devices. Recognized as a Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader for UCaaS, Webex Suite includes Webex Calling for cloud PBX, Webex Meetings for HD video conferencing, and Cisco AI Assistant for real-time transcription, meeting summaries, and noise removal.
What VenSearch Is Saying
Cisco collaboration posts best quarter in seven years as video devices grow 40%
Cisco's Collaboration business, which includes Webex, collaboration devices and contact center, grew 12% year over year in the company's fiscal fourth quarter, reported August 12, 2026. UC Today called it Collaboration's best quarter in seven years, with double-digit order growth and video devices up 40%. Cisco overall reported record quarterly revenue of $17.3 billion, up 18%. For comparison, UC Today noted Zoom's most recent quarterly revenue grew 5.5% and RingCentral's grew 5.9%. For buyers, this is a sign that Cisco is investing in and selling Webex and its room hardware actively, which is relevant if you are weighing whether to stay on Webex or move. The 40% jump in video devices also points to a broader refresh cycle in meeting rooms, which can affect hardware availability and how much negotiating room a reseller has on pricing. Cisco did not break out how much of the growth came from software, such as Webex AI Agent and contact center, versus hardware. That matters because subscriptions are recurring while device sales follow refresh cycles. If you are a Webex customer, ask your account team or advisor what is driving the growth in your segment and what the roadmap looks like for the products you actually use. If you have a device refresh coming, get quotes early, ask about trade-in and bundle programs, and make sure new room hardware is certified for every meeting platform your organization needs to join. Cisco's next quarterly results are due in November.
Cisco patches exploited ASA and FTD flaw that reboots firewalls via SSL VPN
On August 11, 2026, Cisco told customers that attackers were exploiting CVE-2026-20349, a denial-of-service flaw in Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) software, according to SecurityWeek. A remote, unauthenticated attacker can send a crafted HTTP request to the Remote Access SSL VPN service and force the appliance to reload. Cisco released hotfixes, and CISA added the bug to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog the same day, giving federal agencies until August 14 to patch. SecurityWeek noted it was the 12th Cisco product bug with a 2026 CVE added to the KEV list this year. A firewall that reboots on demand is a business-continuity problem. Every reload drops remote users, site-to-site tunnels and any traffic that depends on the device, and repeated reloads can take an office offline. Because no login is required, any ASA or FTD with the SSL VPN service exposed to the internet is a potential target. Ask whoever manages your Cisco firewalls whether Remote Access SSL VPN is enabled and internet-facing, and whether the hotfix from Cisco advisory cisco-sa-asaftd-vpn-dos-dzv4mQFF has been applied. Get the specific fixed release in writing, since the advisory lists affected and fixed versions by train. If you rely on a single firewall for remote access, this is also a good time to confirm you have a failover unit or a documented fallback for remote workers. Cisco has not shared details about the attacks themselves. Watch for an updated advisory, and treat any unexplained firewall reloads since early August as worth investigating.
Cisco sets end of sale for Wi-Fi 6 access points, including Meraki MR36, MR44 and MR46
Cisco has announced end of sale and end of life for its Wi-Fi 6 indoor access points, covering Catalyst 9105, 9115, 9120, and 9130 models and Meraki MR36, MR36H, MR44, MR46, and MR46E. The general end-of-sale date is December 31, 2026, but Cisco moved it up for some models: July 10, 2026 for the C9120AXE and C9120AXP and July 31, 2026 for the C9120AXI. Software maintenance releases end December 31, 2027, and the last date of support is December 31, 2031. Equipment already installed is not in immediate trouble: security support continues through 2031. The practical effect is on expansion and replacement. After end of sale, adding more access points of the same model to an existing network gets harder. Cisco lists newer models, including the Cisco Wireless 9172, 9174, 9176, and 9178 series, as replacements. If you have these models, note the dates in your asset records. If you plan to add coverage or open a new location in the next year, decide whether to buy the current models before end of sale or move to the replacements, and ask whether your switches can supply the power the newer access points need. There is no reason to rip out working Wi-Fi 6 equipment early. Service contract renewals remain available until March 31, 2031.
Cisco Devices for Zoom Rooms puts Zoom software on Cisco room hardware
Cisco and Zoom unveiled Cisco Devices for Zoom Rooms at InfoComm 2026, UC Today reported on June 23, 2026. The product runs Zoom's interface, Zoom Rooms workflow and Zoom Rooms licensing on Cisco hardware ranging from the Desk Pro G2 to the Room Kit EQ. Cisco capabilities that come with the devices include its Agentic Director camera intelligence, ThousandEyes network diagnostics on the device, and Workspace Advisor, which creates a digital twin of each room in Cisco's Collaboration Control Hub. A public beta opened in June, with general availability set for September 2026. This gives organizations that use Zoom a choice of Cisco room hardware without switching meeting platforms. It follows Zoom for Cisco Rooms, launched at ISE 2026, which kept Cisco's software at the center. Now buyers can choose either arrangement. There are limits to understand before buying. UC Today reports that Cisco's management tools and Zoom's admin tools remain separate, so IT teams still run two admin consoles. Cisco's AI features and Zoom's AI features work side by side but are not deeply integrated, and neither company has committed to a timeline for deeper integration. If you are evaluating this option, ask who provides first-line support when a room fails, which console handles firmware and software updates, and whether ThousandEyes and Workspace Advisor require additional licensing. Pilot it in one or two rooms and have the people who will support it day to day test the admin workflow before rolling it out further.
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