Pros
Cisco built the internet with no protocol religion, even though IP became the defacto standard. There is a lot of diversity in the company, both technically and culturally, which made it an interesting company to be part of. The international aspect of the company and the willingness to incorporate international values also contributes to the cosmopolitan feel of the company.
Cons
Parts of the business have become mature technology, and have lost their fun value. The grind of becoming the #1 vendor in many aspects of IT and Telecommunications has turned the exciting place to work, into a technology factory with little innovation and no radical thinking. Producing the numbers for the next quarter is more important than technical innovation or product development. Even the buildings in San Jose look tired and jaded now. Cisco talks about collaboration, it's the buzzword of the year, but very little collaboration exists within Cisco today, this is an empire of ivory towers.