Cisco is a big monopoly and it is managed badly from top to bottom.
Pros
They have a lot of money, and that gets them through a lot of bad management. Record profit translates into laying off 5,000 people. Get some skills here and then go work for a company where your talent will mean something.
Cons
Cisco is a big monopoly and it is managed badly, but it does not matter because they leverage their monopoly to make money. The internet would be better if the company was broken up into 12 companies based on their monopolies in so many areas. They are a classic example of a place that at one time was great to work for and each year it goes down hill like IBM and Microsoft. I had two alcoholic middle managers that did not care about my group or understand business. You will be a just a number at this company. Cisco's vision is to maintain there existing monopolies and buy start ups that challenge them.