Datanet Systems has achieved Cisco Preferred Partner status across all business lines under the new Cisco 360 Partner Program, introduced earlier this year in February. The recognized competency areas include Cloud & AI Infrastructure, Collaboration, Networking, Security, and Services, making Datanet the first company in Romania to reach this milestone.

This multiple achievement places Datanet among a select group of regional and European partners that have demonstrated, at the same time, technical excellence, operational maturity, and advanced capabilities across the full Cisco ecosystem.

 “Achieving this level of certification required a sustained effort and meeting highly demanding performance criteria across both sales and technical capabilities. That is why we welcome the rollout of the new Cisco 360 program, which creates a much clearer differentiation between partnership levels both locally and globally.

Earning Cisco Preferred Partner status across all business lines reflects our continued investment in developing our people and maintaining expertise at the highest level, while further strengthening our position as Cisco’s leading partner in Romania,” said Dragoș Stroescu, Executive Director of Datanet Systems.

 

 

What this means for Datanet’s customers

 

From a customer perspective, Cisco Preferred Partner status across all key competency areas translates into tangible business value for organizations working with Datanet.

First, it provides independent validation of Datanet’s technical expertise. Cisco confirms that Datanet has the capabilities required to design, deploy, and operate complex environments across critical domains including cybersecurity, networking, data center, cloud, and lifecycle services.

Second, the new model enables the delivery of truly integrated solutions. In modern enterprise environments, infrastructure can no longer be approached in silos. Networking, security, automation, observability, and cloud capabilities must be designed as a unified architecture. By maintaining advanced competencies across the entire Cisco portfolio, Datanet significantly reduces operational complexity for customers and removes the need to coordinate multiple specialized providers. The company can design end-to-end architectures, adapt solutions quickly to customer-specific requirements, and deliver managed services built on Cisco technologies.

In practice, this means organizations can rely on a single partner – Datanet Systems to support the full scope of a project, from architecture and deployment to ongoing operations and optimization.

Another important advantage is earlier access to innovation. Preferred Partners collaborate more closely with Cisco and gain deeper visibility into technology roadmaps, emerging platforms, and strategic market directions—an increasingly important advantage as AI continues to reshape enterprise infrastructure.

Finally, this certification validates the maturity of Datanet’s lifecycle services capabilities. Under Cisco’s new partner model, the focus extends beyond implementation to encompass the entire infrastructure lifecycle—from adoption and optimization to security, operations, upgrades, and renewals. For customers, this translates into reduced operational risk, more predictable outcomes, and infrastructure environments designed to evolve alongside business priorities.

 

More than a certification: recognition of expertise built over more than 25 years

 

Within the Cisco ecosystem, certifications go far beyond commercial credentials. They are earned through a rigorous validation process that assesses technical excellence, delivery capabilities, team expertise, lifecycle services maturity, and the ability to execute and support complex projects over the long term.

For Datanet, this latest achievement is the result of a partnership with Cisco developed consistently over more than 25 years. Throughout this journey, the company has reached a series of milestones that reflect both sustained growth and long-term commitment to excellence:

• Romania’s first Cisco Premier Partner (1998);
• Romania’s first Cisco Silver Partner  (2001);
• Romania’s first Cisco Gold Partner (2004);
• Romania’s first  Cisco Partner Lifecycle Services (PLS) (2024).

This track record reflects not only Datanet’s technological maturity, but also the company’s contribution to shaping and advancing Romania’s enterprise networking market.

In reality, only a limited number of organizations achieve advanced competency levels simultaneously across networking, security, cloud infrastructure, collaboration, and managed services. Earning and maintaining these distinctions requires sustained investment in technical certifications, lab environments, operational excellence, service delivery capabilities, and teams with deep hands-on experience delivering enterprise and mission-critical projects.

 

Cisco 360: redefining the Cisco partner ecosystem

 

The new Cisco 360 Partner Program, launched in February, marks one of the most significant shifts in Cisco’s global partner strategy in recent years. Designed to reflect the transformation driven by artificial intelligence across the technology industry, the program moves beyond the traditional partner model, historically centered on hardware sales, and places greater emphasis on creating value throughout the entire solution lifecycle, delivering managed services, accelerating software and cloud adoption, and strengthening customer retention.

Under the new framework, partners are evaluated across four strategic dimensions:

1. Lifecycle and managed services maturity
2. Investment in technical capabilities, training, and specialized expertise
3. Ability to acquire, develop, and retain customers
4. Active engagement throughout the entire customer journey

Through this transformation, Cisco is addressing a fundamental shift in the market: modern infrastructure is no longer defined by hardware alone, but by continuous services, automation, AI-driven operations, and integrated security.

The new Cisco Preferred Partner designation is awarded exclusively to organizations that demonstrate advanced capabilities, strong customer engagement, and a high level of operational maturity.

 

Romania, one of the most advanced Cisco markets in the region

 

Datanet Systems’ achievement is even more meaningful in the context of Romania’s position as one of the most mature Cisco markets in Central and Eastern Europe. For many years, Cisco has held a leading position in the enterprise networking space, particularly within mission-critical environments where reliability, interoperability, and enterprise-grade support are business-critical requirements. The local market stands out through the maturity of its partner ecosystem and the depth of technical expertise available across the industry.

Supported by long-standing initiatives such as the Cisco Networking Academy, Romania has developed one of the region’s strongest communities of CCNP and CCIE certified engineers, while many local teams deliver services and complex projects well beyond national borders.

At the same time, customer expectations have evolved. Organizations are no longer looking for partners that simply deploy infrastructure, they expect strategic advisors.