[bmelton]

And that generally, the people who've won the contract to build the website or application are not the same people who've won the other contract to manage the databases, which is a totally different someone than those who've won the contract to run the DNS system, oh and also that the DNS contractors and the database contractors definitely bid on the website contract but didn't win so they want the website contractor to fail so they can get a second chance at bidding on the contract when you do

[nonameiguess]

Don't forget the database contractor and frontend contractor aren't allowed to directly talk to each other but have to make contact through their individual contracting officers.

[bmelton]

and that the leads from both of the other teams are on the change control board eagerly waiting for your change to come before them so they can find the least-obvious-but-still-patently-obvious excuses to make your request look unprepared to the govvies who pay them in lieu of having any expertise so "new table" requests can be shot down with lowbrow questions like "But have we thought about the security implications?!?"

[seanp2k2]

what's the penalty like for backchanneling?

[belltaco]

Pissed off contracting officers at the least, losing their trust will ensure you will be micromanaged on all the things to the letter in all the hundreds of pages of contracts you signed. They can make life hell and probably stop you from renewing the contract at the least, or make it an instant recompete at the worst.