Pros
VMware has great technology and top-notch people. Almost to a person, everyone is willing to help you and this hasn't changed as new people have arrived and the company has grown dramatically. This is the one large company that I have worked for where people live the values (in VMware's case these are EPIC2). VMware has a good balance of internal innovation and external acquisitions and our M&A and Senior Executives have done a great job of picking acquisition targets that fit culturally.
Cons
The company is definitely hitting "big company" status manifested in many more people involved in decisions with no increased value add. Funding appears to go to big new initiatives that are either hit or miss. This approach has starved other areas going counter to the concept of allowing a thousand flowers to bloom. Several people site the trend to hire from outside rather than promote from within with examples of people leaving and being hired back in at a more senior level when they couldn't get the same promotion while at the company.
