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Smart People, Confusing Politics

Solutions Integration Architect
Current Employee
Has worked at Cisco for 20 years
October 9, 2024
Herndon, Virginia
4.0
RecommendsNeutral OutlookNo CEO Opinion
Pros

Good benefits, lots of smart people, still a major player in most industries.

Cons

Cisco's biggest competitor tends to be Cisco. Internal politics are often mystifying, with a tendency toward monoculture.

Advice to Management

A lot of executive management decisions about product/market direction are short-sighted. There's a running cycle of over-hyping products with poor initial quality, and then when said product actually stabilizes and becomes accepted, a new over-hyped/under-developed product is introduced to render the original product obsolete.

Failures in this regard end up driving the need for external acquisitions, at the cost of developing internal R&D capabilities. Truly investing in a capability for ongoing research frequently won't provide short-term benefit, but will almost always win in the long term.

Additional Ratings

Work/Life Balance
4.0
Culture and Values
5.0
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
5.0
Career Opportunities
4.0
Compensation and Benefits
4.0
Senior Management
3.0

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