Palo Alto Networks

Best cloud security vision in the industry.

Still the #1 network security vendor.

Mostly a fun place to work.

Lots of great new security technology coming in 2020, so we will remain the #1 network security vendor, but it could be a much better journey.

Since the company's been taken over by Indian management and Google execs, the rewards (for the individual contributors at least) have gone in the toilet.

More work for less money. The stock compensation plan used to be pretty good; now it's a pittance.

Since the Marks left the company, it's been constant turmoil and chaos.

401K match is a joke: $1K per year and that's it. It used to be said this was because they were generous with RSU compensation, but that's no longer the case.

Constant changes with no plans (or if there are, they aren't communicated to anyone).

Arbitrary review process with "new" performance metrics, none of which was communicated to individual contributors, but chiseled away at your compensation. I saw similar things going on at Cisco in the 2000s after the dot-com bust.

Yet with all the things they're doing wrong, I feel the passion and drive of the employees to do the right thing will take the company to the next level, no matter how much upper management botches everything up.

Communications go a long way to running a successful business and keeping your employees happy; it's not just about you.

When you make a change, like a "speedboat split," how about a well-thought-out plan to execute, not just "hey, let's do this," and massive chaos ensues.

If you're going to change our review process and its associated rewards, how about communicating that to your employees so that everyone clearly understands the implications of the changes and how it will affect the employees and their bottom line?

Having worked at other well-oiled/mature companies, PANW still feels like it's a startup, and it's starting to feel a bit like amateur hour.