Pros
Cisco is an Industry Leader in so many categories. It has a great brand name. There are immense learning opportunities. It may be a very good employer especially when starting out fresh in your career. The executive management does a very good job communicating to all employees the direction and strategy of the company. There is a awesome benefits package with gymns and other health benefits. There are incentive programs to promote innovation and out of the box thinking. The company also supports employee development by reimbursing tuition fees. They also have a dedicated facility to train employees in various skills.
Cons
It appears to be an overcrowded place. It appears that the pie is too small and too many people are trying to get a piece of it. This creates lot of bad blood among employees. Employees are competing with each other and often conspiring against each other instead of working together as a team to stay ahead of competition from industry peers. The engineering management would get better results if they spent some time in people management. While the company support career development initiatives, the opportunities are too few and rare even though you may have the skills needed for the job. Engineering promotions below a certain level are not announced, but silently updated in the directory - doesn't help transparency.