As conversations around artificial intelligence grow louder, one thing is clear, the modern data centre is under more pressure than ever. A recent Cisco AI Readiness Index revealed that:
These insights confirm what partners already know, traditional data centres weren’t built for the scale and complexity AI requires. Workloads are becoming unpredictable. Data is growing exponentially. Agility is no longer optional. Cisco’s modern data centre architecture is designed with these realities in mind. Whether it’s Cisco UCS X-Series, Nexus switching, Cisco Intersight, or AI-powered insights, the result is a platform that’s flexible, intelligent, and secure by design.
We know our channel community is facing increasing demand to modernise infrastructure, optimise workloads, and support data-hungry applications - all while keeping costs in check. This is what we’re hearing from our partners.
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“We’re constantly walking a tightrope between performance and affordability.”
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“The challenge isn’t just modernisation. It’s anticipating where our customers will need to be in 12 months, especially with AI now in every conversation.”
We hear you, and we're here to support you.
“At Dicker Data, we’re not just keeping up, we’re continuing to lead the way! Our partnership with Cisco is all about making AI-capable infrastructure easier to adopt, with exclusive tools, assessments, and enablement resources to help you move faster. We’re seeing incredible momentum across the Australian partner landscape, and we’re here to support you every step of the way. " - Vlad Mitnovetski, COO, Dicker Data.
So, what's happening in the channel?
“From where we sit at Dicker Data, the pace of change is real. Our partners are observing: A sharp increase in hybrid and multi-cloud deployments, renewed focus on sustainability and energy efficiency in data centres, early demand for AI-ready infrastructure, even from mid-market customers. And on top of all that, there’s growing pressure to support data resilience and security at scale. The conversation has moved beyond servers and racks. It’s now about performance, automation, and readiness built into the solution with AI driving much of that urgency.” – Andrew Cameron, Business Manager.
How Cisco is evolving the Data Centre
We’re already witnessing impressive results from a recent Cisco AI Readiness study, showing that early adopters are seeing a 30% faster time-to-value by modernising their core infrastructure.
7 Key Benefits of Cisco’s Data Centre
1. AI-Ready Performance: Up to 4× faster AI/ML workloads with UCS X-Series and 800G Nexus.
2. Faster Deployment: 38% quicker rollout, 66% less time on updates via Cisco Intersight.
3. Sustainability Gains: 60% lower cooling/power costs; 29% fewer servers needed.
4. Built-in Security: Secure Boot + microsegmentation = stronger Zero Trust foundation.
5. Hybrid Cloud Ready: 30% faster app provisioning; integrated with AWS, Azure, Google Cloud.
6. Agility & Scalability: 60% faster workload adaptation; modular upgrades, no forklift needed.
7. Lower TCO, Higher ROI: 53% less operational cost; 430% ROI over 5 years (IDC).
Cisco Live 2025 Updates
Cisco announced significant enhancements to its data centre capabilities at Cisco Live 2025, including:
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Cisco Nexus HyperFabric AI clusters – enabling scalable, high-bandwidth, low-latency networks for AI workloads.
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Intersight integration with NVIDIA AI Enterprise – simplifying lifecycle management of AI infrastructure.
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Sustainability metrics tracking – helping customers reduce energy use and carbon footprint.
Our local team can help scope, design, configure, build and deploy date centre solutions based on your customers requirement. Utilising Cisco’s solutions that protect and optimise data centres and networks for cloud and big data architectures, that combine common hardware with intelligent software.
The Date Centre Opportunity
This isn’t about selling AI. It’s about solving real customer problems like, latency, scale, sustainability, cost control, all with the confidence that your customers infrastructure can adapt and grow. Partners who embrace this shift now are setting themselves up for greater relevance and profitability in the years ahead.
"At Cisco we empower organisations to harness the full potential of AI with a secure, scalable, and intelligent infrastructure. From AI-optimized compute with UCS servers and modular systems, to next-generation networking devices delivering high bandwidth and low latency, Cisco ensures seamless AI workload performance.” - Martin Hatcher - Regional Sales Leader - Cloud & AI Infrastructure at Cisco
How Dicker Data is supporting partners in this space
“Upgrading your data centre environment isn’t just a technical refresh – it’s a strategic move to stay competitive. Modern workloads like AI demand more from infrastructure, and legacy environments can hold the business back. A modern platform improves efficiency, reduces power consumption, and supports sustainability goals – all while strengthening your security posture through built-in zero trust capabilities. It also sets you up for resilience, with better business continuity and flexibility across hybrid and multi-cloud models. Long-term, it drives down your cost to serve by reducing unplanned downtime and maintenance overhead – and positions you to deliver the speed, reliability and innovation your customers expect.” - Andrew Cameron, Business Manager.
If you’re a Cisco partner navigating these same challenges, we’re here to support you. Whether you’re ready for an AI workshop, a data centre health check, or just a fresh conversation about where the opportunity lies, our Dicker Data Cisco team is ready to help. Let’s talk about what’s next. Reach out to your Cisco account manager or connect with the Dicker Data team today.
Join us at the Data Resiliency in an AI-Driven World event on September 17th, visit the Cisco stand to explore cutting-edge innovations firsthand.
Andrew Cameron
Business Manager
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