[nrmitchi]

SolarWinds is a 21-year-old publicly-traded company.

They're not really "yet another startup".

I also don't think that the departments of the US Government are all going around all willy-nilly dropping tools from "yet another startup" into their core infrastructure.

While your overall point may be valid, it's tough to come to the conclusion that it is applicable here.

[falcolas]

I believe that you have mis-read their comment - they aren't saying Solar Winds is "yet another startup", they're saying that SolarWinds is incorporating 3rd party technology (the so-called supply chain attack on their build) without vetting it.

And, if we're being honest, those technologies probably are based off startup tech; SolarWinds purchases and incorporates startup companies (such as Vivid Cortex recently).

[nrmitchi]

That is entirely possible.

[mcguire]

Willy-nilly dropping tools into core infrastructure is largely how government IT works.

Corporate IT, too, from what I've seen.

[notabee]

That's very true, In my limited experience, they are tools sold to non-technical leadership that are either thrown to technical staff to deal with and implement or require letting yet another vendor have network access to manage. It adds up to a hot mess.

[mcguire]

My favorite comment from a (authentication system) vendor, during a meeting where we were trying to figure out why users were having trouble logging into an internal app: "Do I have a charge code for this?"

[wglb]

No longer publicly traded: https://www.solarwinds.com/company/press-releases/solarwinds...

[nrmitchi]

Went public again Oct 18, 2018: https://www.solarwinds.com/company/press-releases/2018-q4/so...

[wglb]

I stand corrected.

[reaperducer]

SolarWinds is a 21-year-old publicly-traded company. They're not really "yet another startup".

Today it is. If we knew when SolarWinds was added to the government systems, his comment might stand.

[mgreenleaf]

And yesterday's startup is tomorrow's billion dollar company, often with nothing changed except the number of customers.

[rplnt]

Startup or not, government contracts require certain certifications.