Q. What is Stack Automation by Quali?
A. Stack Automation by Quali is a deployment automation platform co-developed with Cisco and offered exclusively by Cisco. It is designed to bring unmatched simplicity to the Day 0-1 Cisco® infrastructure and ecosystem software experience, shifting from manual, component-based configuration to a fully automated, cloud-like deployment model for faster time-to-value. By prioritizing simplicity in every workflow, we enable users to achieve results in hours rather than weeks.
The platform supports two primary deployment scopes:
● Software-only: automates the provisioning and configuration of individual software layers from Cisco (such as Cisco Nexus® Dashboard, Cisco Intersight®, and Splunk®) and third-parties (for example, NVIDIA NIMs, Red Hat OpenShift, and Qumulo).
● Full-stack solutions: delivers turnkey, pre-validated solutions (such as Cisco AI PODs and Splunk PODs) that orchestrate the entire stack (including networking, compute, storage, and software layers) in a single, unified workflow.
Q. Who is Quali?
A.
Quali is a leading provider of infrastructure automation and agentic AI solutions that empower IT operations, DevOps, and platform engineering teams to build, provision, and manage environments with exceptional speed and reliability. Trusted by enterprise organizations worldwide to manage millions of cloud resources, Quali's platforms automate complex infrastructure deployment, enforce strict compliance policies, and proactively optimize cloud costs. By replacing manual, error-prone configurations with a governed, self-service model, Quali enables infrastructure leaders to maintain continuous network stability, safeguard sensitive data, and drive significant reductions in overall IT expenditure.
Q. Why did Cisco choose Quali to bring this solution to market?
A. Cisco selected Quali based on a proven, long-standing partnership and a shared commitment to delivering secure, scalable, and highly available infrastructure. For years, Quali's robust automation engine has powered the Cisco DevNet Sandbox, successfully providing software developers and network engineers with reliable, on-demand access to complex, real-world IT environments.
We expanded this trusted collaboration to build Stack Automation because Quali's technology perfectly supports our vision for the future of enterprise IT operations. Together, we provide a unified solution that allows infrastructure managers to:
● Accelerate deployments: compress Day 0-1 infrastructure and ecosystem software provisioning from weeks to merely hours, ensuring rapid time-to-value.
● Embed proactive security: automate the application of security settings recommended by Cisco and best practices during provisioning to help ensure consistent policy enforcement from the moment of deployment.
● Ensure seamless integration: connect effortlessly with existing infrastructure code and day-2 management platforms—such as Cisco Intersight and Nexus Dashboard—without disrupting current operations.
● Optimize budget utilization: leverage automated governance, cost-tracking, and idle resource detection to confidently manage complex hybrid environments and maximize IT budget efficiency.
Q. How can Stack Automation help my IT team?
A. Stack Automation dramatically increases your operational agility by accelerating the speed of deployment, compressing weeks-long cycles into hours. Simultaneously, it ensures high operational reliability by embedding expertise and security baselines validated by Cisco into every deployment, eliminating manual error and detecting configuration drifts post-deployment.
Q. Is this just an automation tool?
A. No, Stack Automation is a comprehensive infrastructure control plane. While it provides powerful automation, it goes further by discovering existing environments, composing them into governed infrastructure, and continuously monitoring for drift, cost, and policy compliance. It acts as the governance layer that sits above your existing tools to ensure that what is deployed remains secure and aligned with business intent throughout its entire lifecycle.
Q. How does it support GPUaaS and AI initiatives?
A. Stack Automation automates the entire path from bare-metal to a running model, including cluster formation, GPU allocation, and model deployment. By providing a self-service, multitenant model, it enables your teams to access GPU capacity on demand, significantly reducing the time-to-value for AI initiatives while helping to ensure that every GPU workload is secure and accounted for.
Q. How does it improve GPU utilization?
A. The platform improves GPU utilization by providing a governed, multitenant experience that eliminates manual, siloed provisioning processes. By automating the allocation of GPU resources and providing visibility into consumption, it reduces stranded capacity and allows IT to manage GPU infrastructure as a dynamic, cloud-like service, ensuring that expensive hardware is fully leveraged across all teams and tenants.
Q. Where can I find more information?
Software and general availability
Q. Which Cisco and third-party products are supported at software GA?
A. The following is a sample of Cisco and third-party software supported at GA:
● Cisco software: Cisco APIC (on-premises and cloud), Catalyst® Center, Nexus Dashboard (on premises and cloud), Catalyst 8000V (on premises and cloud), Nexus 9000v, Cisco Crosswork Network Controller, Cisco Intersight, Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE), ThousandEyes®, Isovalent® Networking for Kubernetes, Isovalent Runtime Security, Splunk, Cisco Cyber Vision, Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center, and Cisco Firewall for Private Cloud. This list is continuously refreshed, with new solutions introduced on an ongoing basis.
● Third-party software: BMaaS/VMaaS for Windows Server 2025/Rocky Linux/VMware ESXi, Cohesity, Dataiku, NetBox, NVIDIA NIMs, Red Hat OpenShift, Qumulo, Veeam, VMware vCenter, RHEL, Ubuntu, and others.
Visit the help center for the full list of software available in the Solutions Hub. It is continuously refreshed, with new solutions introduced on an ongoing basis.
Q. What is the timeline for full-stack GA?
A. GA for full-stack deployments, such as Cisco AI PODS, Splunk PODs, and more, is targeted for October 2026. Dates are subject to change.
Q. How does the Solution Hub simplify software deployment?
A. The Solution Hub simplifies software deployment by acting as a centralized interface for selecting and deploying pre-validated infrastructure, effectively removing the need for manual, siloed configuration processes. By centralizing both software and full-stack solution deployments, it streamlines multi-vendor environment configuration and management, enabling your team to achieve rapid, automated time-to-value delivery.
Deployment scope, integration, and operations
Q. Is Stack Automation by Quali a SaaS or on-premises solution?
A. Stack Automation by Quali is a SaaS-based solution that uses an on-premises management server element to securely download automation artifacts and deploy them against data-center infrastructure within your private networks. For organizations with specific hosting requirements, dedicated instances in government clouds or self-owned cloud accounts are available for purchase as part of our yearly subscription options. Additionally, while the platform currently operates as a SaaS-based model, air-gapped support is currently planned for a future release.
Q. Does it support hybrid- and multi-cloud environments?
A. Yes, Stack Automation is designed to provide a unified, governed experience across your entire hybrid- cloud footprint. It works across any vendor’s compute and any cloud environment, allowing your teams to request, deploy, and operate workloads consistently whether they reside on premises, in a private cloud, or across multiple public cloud providers.
Q. Does Stack Automation work only with Cisco UCS® servers?
A. Only bare-metal OS deployments are exclusive to Cisco UCS servers. Note that OS provisioning requires an Intersight Advantage license. The rest of the offered services (VMaaS, LLMaaS, Cisco and third-party applications) are available to any underlying server, because the requirements needed are based on hypervisor or container platforms and resource availability. Neither Cisco nor Quali is responsible for the underlying server installation.
Q. Does OS provisioning for Cisco UCS include server profile and policy configuration?
A. Yes, all Cisco UCS– and Intersight-related configurations are fully automated. Just import your Intersight account and, as long as the UCS server(s) where you want to install are discovered and an Intersight Advantage license is associated, you are good to go.
Q. Can I modify blueprints validated by Cisco to fit my needs?
A. Yes, the platform provides a dual-path framework that allows you to tailor validated blueprints or build custom configurations from scratch. You can use the Blueprint Designer to adapt existing validated blueprints to meet your specific requirements. The Designer supports custom blueprint creation by allowing you to connect your existing code repositories, such as Ansible, Terraform, Python, Shell, or Helm. You can also leverage embedded agentic intelligence, including NVIDIA NemoClaw and Claude Cowork/Codex, to design unique configurations that align precisely with your organizational needs.
Q. Can I use my existing Ansible or Terraform scripts?
A. Yes, the platform is designed to integrate seamlessly with your existing automation investments. You can connect your code repositories directly into your workflows, with full support for Ansible, Terraform, Python, Shell, and Helm, which helps ensure consistency and continuity across your current automation environment.
Q. Is Stack Automation part of Cisco Cloud Control?
A. Yes, Stack Automation is expected to be available in Cisco Cloud Control in Q1 FY27.
Q. Does this replace my day-2 management tools?
A. No, Stack Automation does not replace your existing day-2 management tools. It is a high-velocity accelerator specifically focused on day-0 planning and day-1 delivery. Once your infrastructure and full-stack solutions are deployed, the platform hands off operations to your management ecosystem of choice, allowing you to continue using your established tools for ongoing health monitoring and lifecycle management.
Q. How does Stack Automation ensure secure deployment?
A. Stack Automation ensures secure deployment by embedding Cisco best practices and validated security settings directly into the provisioning process. This approach automates the application of recommended security settings from the moment of deployment, ensuring consistent policy enforcement and validating system health to proactively prevent configuration errors.
Q. What happens if an automated deployment fails?
A. The platform includes built-in validation and drift reconciliation mechanisms to identify issues early and maintain system integrity. It performs comprehensive environment checks before deployment begins, and if issues arise, the drift reconciliation engine identifies deviations and helps restore system integrity to ensure operational readiness.
Q. How does the Drift Reconciliation Engine work?
A. The Drift Reconciliation Engine provides continuous introspection by monitoring the full blueprint across every layer of your infrastructure. It automatically detects any configuration deviations from the original validated state and notifies administrators, allowing for human-approved remediation to restore system integrity and ensure your environments remain compliant.
Licensing, usage, and getting started
Q. What is the licensing model?
A. We offer two tiers and full-stack services:
● Essentials: provides access to the solution catalog for standard deployments (excluding full-stack solutions), up to 100 CCUs deployed, and community support. Paid standard support is available.
● Advantage (subscription): charged per concurrent compute unit (CCU). This unlocks advanced customization, the Blueprint Designer, GitOps integration, and access to agentic design tools such as NVIDIA NemoClaw and Claude Cowork along with premium support.
● Full-stack services: a one-time service fee is applied for the automated deployment of curated full-stack solutions (for example, Cisco AI PODs); available post-GA once full-stack solutions are available.
Q. What support options are available?
A. Stack Automation offers support levels tailored to your chosen tier. The Essentials tier provides access to community support, allowing you to engage with other users and shared resources. For organizations requiring more robust assistance, the Essentials Supported and Advantage tiers provide access to our dedicated support center through Quali, which includes standard or premium support options.
Q. How does this platform support SIs and MSPs?
A. Stack Automation provides a powerful, multitenant control plane that enables system integrators and managed service providers to manage multiple customer environments from a single, centralized hub. Partners can build and publish custom service catalogs tailored to the specific needs of their diverse client base, allowing them to scale infrastructure delivery efficiently across various hybrid cloud environments while maintaining consistent governance and security standards for every client.
Q. How is usage for the Advantage tier subscription calculated?
A. The Advantage tier is billed based on consumption of concurrent compute units (CCUs). A CCU is a unified metric designed to measure the scale of resources being automated at any given time. Subscription usage is calculated based on the conversion ratios given in the bullet list below.
Common services and their CCU consumption ratios are as follows:
● 2 CCUs are needed for bare-metal OS deployments (requires Cisco Intersight Advantage licensing).
● 1 CCU is needed per concurrent VM deployed.
● 0.25 CCU is needed per concurrent containers deployed.
● 0.125 CCU is needed per lambda function deployed .
This model allows for flexible scaling, ensuring that customers only pay for the capacity being actively managed through their automated workflows.
Q. How do I get started?
A. To get started, visit
stackautomation.cisco.com and log in with your credentials. As a Cisco customer, you will have immediate access to the Essentials tier, which allows you to begin exploring the platform right away. If you require more advanced features, you can easily upgrade to the Advantage tier directly through your user profile settings.
Q. Is there a free trial for the Advantage tier?
A. Yes, you can take advantage of a free 30-day trial of the Advantage tier to explore the platform's advanced capabilities. To begin your trial, visit stackautomation.cisco.com and create an account. If you do not already have a Cisco ID, you will be prompted to create one during the registration process to gain access to the trial.
Q. How can I join the full-stack beta?
Many of the products and features described herein remain in varying stages of development and will be offered on a when-and-if-available basis. The delivery timeline of these products and features is subject to change at the sole discretion of Cisco, and Cisco will have no liability for delay in the delivery or failure to deliver any of the products or features set forth herein.