[l0b0]

This could at least in part explain some common patterns:

- Non-IT companies overall have terrible IT systems because as soon as they have two systems they need some sort of integration which the vendors are likely to botch and the resident "IT person" isn't qualified to build and maintain.

- "Nobody was ever fired for choosing $vendor" actually makes sense when integration is a black hole for time and money. At least a single vendor is likely to have already taken care of integrating with their own products.

- When people start looking at which parts of an IT infrastructure to improve it's usually the oldest and most botched-together piece. But it is nearly impossible to replace because of all the botched-together custom integration code which was cobbled together by half a dozen barely-qualified staff.

[marmaduke]

> resident "IT person" isn't qualified

More and more, I think such a phrase should read, "resident management requested too many features without sufficient budget".

> code which was cobbled together by half a dozen barely-qualified staff

Idem, "code copy pasted to satisfy excessive requirements of pointy haired boss" is the more informative statement here

[thrower123]

Very frequently, with the amount of churn that one sees today, you can't even get to the end of a deployment with the same people that you started a project with.

I cherish my customers that have company lifers on the other side. Dealing with people that actually know what they are doing and have history and context to draw on is such a luxury.

[TheSpiceIsLife]

> code which was cobbled together by half a dozen barely-qualified staff

So long as each part of the system can export and import CSV, or similar, then anyone with Excel and enough time can become a Systems Integration Expert