Cisco Systems Employee Review

I have been working at Cisco Systems full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – There are many very smart and competent people at Cisco; it's a great place to learn. Cisco also has a huge effect on the entire IT industry and its customers in business and government world-wide. It's an amazing place to see how ideas and technology, especially networking, communications and collaboration technology are changing the world we live in. From within Cisco, you have a great vantage point on the future of the industry as a whole. If you have incremental innovative ideas that are well aligned with the strategic direction of a profitable business, Cisco is a great place to innovate and you'll be recognized and rewarded.

Cons – Cisco is a very large company in a prominent position; however, it suffers all of the problems facing large companies and also fails to take full advantage of its size and dominance. Businesses are run extremely lean and lack resources to experiment, change and innovate. Commoditization and competitive pressures which are already powerful forces will tend to get worse unless Cisco takes organized steps to change and fight back. Unfortunately, there is no real top-down direction provided to strategic change and no process or structure to develop one. Innovations that are both disruptive and adaptive are everywhere but lack coherence and executive support. If your job is in this domain there are LOTS of opportunities to contribute but it will be very difficult to succeed.

Advice to Senior Management – Cisco has changed dramatically in its past and must do so again to adapt in a very dynamic marketplace. Cisco is in a very difficult position, punished by the market if it does NOT innovate and punished by the market if it INVESTS in innovation. The only way out is to be highly selective and strategic in the kinds of adaptive innovation it pursues, the companies it acquires and the businesses it closes or sells. It's not enough to manage this behemoth using financial criteria alone: Cisco needs to translate its technology vision into qualitative goals for the businesses and measure executives on achieving those qualitative goals as well as more conventional financial ones.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend