Partners who adopted Cisco's AI solutions early are already capturing their share of the$159B GenAI opportunity. At Cisco, we are deeply committed to empowering our partners with cutting-edge technologies that meet the ever-evolving demands of the market. In this blog, you'll learn about our AI-Ready Infrastructure Specialization, the groundbreaking Cisco UCS C885A M8 Rack Server, and our comprehensive Cisco AI PODs.

According toBob O'Donnell, a leading industry analyst with Technalysis,"...it's becoming increasingly clear that enterprises want to start building up their own AI-capable infrastructure as their own GenAI journeys move forward. While there's little doubt that many (perhaps even most) AI application workloads will continue to exist in the cloud, many companies are realizing that there is going to be a very real need to do some of this work on prem."

AI-Ready Infrastructure Specialization

As a Cisco partner, you now have the opportunity to elevate your expertise with our solution specialization in AI-ready infrastructure. This new specialization is designed to empower you with the knowledge and skills to deliver cutting-edge AI solutions, helping your customers quickly deploy and manage secure AI infrastructure. By achieving this specialization, you will not only differentiate your practice but also unlock new opportunities for increased profitability and customer satisfaction. Embrace the future of technology with the latest AI specialization from Cisco and position yourself as a leader in AI innovation and confidently advise customers on AI consumption models, infrastructure strategy, security requirements, and governance. Generative AI will be a$159B opportunity for the channel ecosystem by 2028, be sure to gain your competitive edge with the Cisco AI specialization

Introducing the Cisco UCS C885A M8 Rack Server: A GPU server for the toughest AI workloads

On October 11, we activated orderability for the latest addition to the Cisco UCS family: UCS C885A, a high-density, 8-GPU server to help customers achieve AI outcomes. The UCS C885A M8 Rack Server puts you and Cisco in the middle of the AI conversation. When we educate customers around modernization and Cisco's investment in AI, this game-changing cornerstone of AI infrastructure illustrates our driver-to help customers reduce risk and accelerate to achieve business outcomes.

Key features of the UCS C885A M8 Rack Server:

• Purpose-built for data-intensive AI use cases:the new Cisco UCS C885A M8 Server is a powerhouse designed to tackle the most demanding AI training tasks. With its high-density configuration of NVIDIA H100 and H200 Tensor Core GPUs, coupled with the efficiency of NVIDIA HGX architecture the UCS C885A M8 provides the raw computational power necessary for handling massive data sets and complex algorithms
• Integral component of Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric AI:This means simplified deployment, streamlined management, and a complete Cisco stack for AI infrastructure, making it easier than ever for your customers to embrace AI.
• Designed for demanding AI workloads: You can now rely on Cisco UCS for your entire AI lifecycle and use cases, from model testing and development to the most intensive training requirements for medium and large inferencing.

Accelerate AI adoption with Cisco AI PODs

Deploying AI with confidence requires an ecosystem. With AI PODs, Cisco is enabling customers to experience the fastest deployment of custom AI models that feature performance assurance and seamless scalability at every level of the architecture. The solution includes Cisco UCS servers and supporting Cisco switches, software from partners NVIDIA and Red Hat, and storage from NetApp and Pure Storage. Pre-scripted automation for deployment of infrastructure configuration, container deployment, and model onboarding makes it simple and seamless to start customers on their AI journey.

Benefits of Cisco AI PODs:

• Accelerated deployment: Pre-validated configurations for faster implementation.
• Centralized management: Streamlined operations through Cisco Intersight.
• Built-in automation: Reduced manual tasks and improved efficiency.
• Linear scalability: Performance that scales predictably with growing demands validated through rigorous testing.

Ultimately, Cisco AI PODs provide a great starting point for customers, offering best-in-class, single-vendor support for AI deployment architecture that streamlines operations and enhances reliability across each customer's AI-ready infrastructure.

Simplify data center networking with Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric

Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric is a new cloud-managed data center networking solution. It enables customers to easily design, deploy, and manage any number of fabrics located anywhere, spanning primary data centers, colocation facilities, and distributed data center edge sites. It reinvents the IT operations lifecycle of the data center by simplifying every step of the process. Using a Cisco-managed cloud controller, Nexus Hyperfabric ensures repeatable and predictable outcomes by IT generalist, application, and DevOps teams. The vertical stack solution consists of purpose-built network switches, software, cloud management, day-2 automation, and Cisco support.

Transformative features of Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric:

• Cloud-managed solution: Simplifies every step of the IT operations lifecycle.
• Easy deployment and management:Fabrics across primary data centers, colocation facilities, edge sites, and dedicated AI/ML clusters.
• Zero-touch spine-leaf fabrics: Automated zero-touch provisioning and a helping hands assistant for real-time verification.
• Shared responsibility model: Cisco manages the cloud controller and software upgrades, allowing customers to focus on their applications and network interconnections.

Available as a subscription, it ensures scalability and operational efficiency for IT generalists and developer personas.

800G innovations

The new 800G innovations from Cisco are designed to transform the economics and sustainability of the internet for the future. These advancements are particularly beneficial for service and cloud providers, enabling them to meet the growing demands of bandwidth-intensive applications such as IoT, AI/ML, and 5G. They're beneficial for partners, too, helping you with:

• Market differentiation: By leveraging Cisco 800G innovations, partners can offer unique solutions that provide significant space and power savings, helping customers achieve their performance and sustainability goals.
• Future-proofing: The pay-as-you-grow flexible consumption model allows partners to help customers right-size their network and add capacity over time, aligning with business outcomes.
• Sustainability initiatives: Partners can support customers' sustainability initiatives by promoting the energy and carbon savings associated with Cisco 800G systems.

Embrace the future with Cisco

By leveraging Cisco's AI Ready Infrastructure Specialization, the UCS C885A M8 Rack Server, AI PODs, and Nexus Hyperfabric, you can demonstrate comprehensive leadership in AI innovation. Together, we can help customers de-risk and accelerate to achieve business outcomes, ensuring they are ready to embrace the future of technology with confidence.

Next Steps to Fast-Track Your AI Revenue

Connect with your Partner Account Manager to access demo resources

Visit the Partner AI Hub to stay ahead, stay informed, and stay successful with Cisco

 Register for AI Specialization

Other Useful Insights:

• Scaling Cloud Network Infrastructure for the AI Era -Gurudatt Shenoy
• Supercharge Your AI Data Center Infrastructure with New Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches -Murali Gandluru
• Power Your GenAI Ambitions with New Cisco AI-Ready Data Center Infrastructure -Jeremy Foster & Kevin Wollenweber

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