Cisco and Nvidia have announced an expanded partnership aimed at accelerating AI adoption in enterprises. The companies intend to create a cross-portfolio unified architecture to simplify the development of AI-ready data center networks by integrating Cisco's networking expertise with Nvidia's AI technologies. The expanded partnership aims to give organizations flexibility and choice as they look to meet the demand of AI workloads for connectivity within – and between – data centers, clouds, and users, according to the companies' announcement on Tuesday, February 25.
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Nvidia Spectrum-X for Enterprise AI Workloads
The partnership will leverage Nvidia's Spectrum-X Ethernet networking platform, built on both Cisco and Nvidia silicon, to enhance enterprise AI workloads. According to the official release, this interoperability will allow organizations to optimize AI infrastructure investments while utilizing their existing management tools and processes, spanning front and back-end networks.
"A robust and scalable AI ecosystem is key to driving the transformative power of AI," said Hans Vestberg, Chairman and CEO of Verizon. "This expanded partnership between Cisco and Nvidia, just like our Verizon AI Connect strategy and solutions, builds towards accelerating and enabling resource-intensive AI workloads at the Edge of the network."
"Enterprises are under immense pressure to deploy AI quickly and effectively, and many leaders struggle to justify the investment while balancing the risks," said Chuck Robbins, Chair and CEO, Cisco. "Together, Cisco and Nvidia are partnering to remove barriers for customers and ensure they can optimize their infrastructure investments to unlock the power of AI."
"Advancing at lightspeed, AI will revolutionize every industry," said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia. "Nvidia Spectrum-X is Ethernet enhanced and supercharged for AI. Together with Cisco's enterprise platforms and global reach, we can help companies worldwide build state-of-the-art Nvidia infrastructure as they race to transform with AI."
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Cisco's Silicon One
A key aspect of this collaboration is the integration of Cisco's Silicon One technology into Nvidia's Spectrum-X architecture, making Cisco the exclusive silicon partner for the platform. In addition, the expanded partnership will help move enterprise data center Ethernet AI projects from prototype to full deployment, which would otherwise be limited to public cloud or SaaS services, Cisco said in a joint announcement.
Co-Developing AI Solutions
The companies will also co-develop AI solutions, including data center switches, enterprise reference architectures, and Nvidia Cloud Partner (NCP) solutions. Additionally, businesses adopting AI will benefit from Cisco's comprehensive security and digital resilience offerings, including the Splunk data platform.
"World Wide Technology's long-standing partnerships with Cisco and Nvidia has already resulted in cutting-edge AI solutions that drive innovation and business transformation," said Jim Kavanaugh, Co-Founder and CEO of World Wide Technology. "By leveraging the strengths of Cisco’s deep expertise in the data center and Nvidia's advanced AI technologies, we are poised to deliver unparalleled value to our customers and help them navigate the complexities of AI adoption with confidence."
