[ShirtlessRod]

Like anything, often it's just a matter of selling it properly, even without "authority". Even at an established shop, if something will make a difference in the bottom line, it will likely gain traction.

I've been at a company with thousands of developers, where a guy that was just hired came in, saw a need for a tool that had been missing, prototyped something, and showed how useful it could be.

When there are missing needs like this, it's a tremendous opportunity for someone who is sufficiently motivated.

Of course, there's a balance between a good company that is just missing some things here and there, and a very bad company that is missing just about everything...

[eropple]

Selling "we need to do weeks of LOE to address a problem we don't necessarily believe exists" generally requires more than line-developer authority. (I've been there. My current company is moving towards test coverage only because I can lay out that we should do this for our mobile group, and because I'm raising hell about the rest of the company.)

There's a significant difference in difficulty between building a tool and institutionalizing a labor-intensive (though very valuable) process. And given the surplus of developer jobs out there, it's probably easier, and better, to just move on to your next option.