Do I look like Lord Helmet to you?

[SuburbanFarmer]

Our new warehouse management software has a SQL server backend. Sold as a package product.

That product uses the sa (sysadmin) account for all of its functionality. This is a login that’s not even supposed to be used by humans, or anything outside of the internal database functions.
This was not mentioned to anyone. Ever.

So being the simple fool that I am, one of my first actions was to change the sa password on the server. Which immediately shut down all warehouse functions. Clearly this was my fault for not anticipating their stupidity.

Also, their entire codebase is full of NOLOCK hints - meaning that it just reads ‘whatever’s available’ at that time. Not necessarily the correct data in a table.

Great times.

It usually says in the documentation and the initial setup, to not use the sysadmin password as the overall password.

It’s known by any DBA, for sure.

I can’t get over it. These clowns designed an entire application, and are selling it for millions, built on shitty unstable code.

Yes, I could do better, but would anyone notice? Do companies even bother consulting the IT team on major software purchases any more?

[The Conservative]

Our new warehouse management software has a SQL server backend. Sold as a package product.

That product uses the sa (sysadmin) account for all of its functionality. This is a login that’s not even supposed to be used by humans, or anything outside of the internal database functions.
This was not mentioned to anyone. Ever.

So being the simple fool that I am, one of my first actions was to change the sa password on the server. Which immediately shut down all warehouse functions. Clearly this was my fault for not anticipating their stupidity.

Also, their entire codebase is full of NOLOCK hints - meaning that it just reads ‘whatever’s available’ at that time. Not necessarily the correct data in a table.

Great times.

It usually says in the documentation and the initial setup, to not use the sysadmin password as the overall password.

It’s known by any DBA, for sure.

I can’t get over it. These clowns designed an entire application, and are selling it for millions, built on shitty unstable code.

Yes, I could do better, but would anyone notice? Do companies even bother consulting the IT team on major software purchases any more?

Depends on the level of the IT, and their position in the grand scheme of things. If it's done right the CTO gets in touch with the Director, and the direction goes to the manager, then the manager is supposed to go to the people doing the actual IT to get feedback... Then once compiled, it moves its way in reverse...

That is how I run my ship... most don't because the Director thinks that they are in touch with everything, when in reality, as proven, we aren't.

[SuburbanFarmer]

It usually says in the documentation and the initial setup, to not use the sysadmin password as the overall password.

It’s known by any DBA, for sure.

I can’t get over it. These clowns designed an entire application, and are selling it for millions, built on shitty unstable code.

Yes, I could do better, but would anyone notice? Do companies even bother consulting the IT team on major software purchases any more?

Depends on the level of the IT, and their position in the grand scheme of things. If it's done right the CTO gets in touch with the Director, and the direction goes to the manager, then the manager is supposed to go to the people doing the actual IT to get feedback... Then once compiled, it moves its way in reverse...

That is how I run my ship... most don't because the Director thinks that they are in touch with everything, when in reality, as proven, we aren't.

I mentioned it in another thread, but our new CIO thinks he needs to personally approve any change to any system. Production has ground to a complete halt, and the IT team is working 24/7 to bail water rather than fix problems. It’s madness.

[The Conservative]

It’s known by any DBA, for sure.

I can’t get over it. These clowns designed an entire application, and are selling it for millions, built on shitty unstable code.

Yes, I could do better, but would anyone notice? Do companies even bother consulting the IT team on major software purchases any more?

Depends on the level of the IT, and their position in the grand scheme of things. If it's done right the CTO gets in touch with the Director, and the direction goes to the manager, then the manager is supposed to go to the people doing the actual IT to get feedback... Then once compiled, it moves its way in reverse...

That is how I run my ship... most don't because the Director thinks that they are in touch with everything, when in reality, as proven, we aren't.

I mentioned it in another thread, but our new CIO thinks he needs to personally approve any change to any system. Production has ground to a complete halt, and the IT team is working 24/7 to bail water rather than fix problems. It’s madness.

The CIO right, he/she does have to approve any changes. What he/she should be doing instead is working with the team to get the best answer, because what happens is that if things grind to a halt, that means that everything gets stopped... and if production stops money is lost.

If money is lost, they start looking at where the failure is, it is easy to blame the IT department, but if they do a true investigation of where the decision making comes from and how it's made, you'll be looking for a new CIO sooner than later.

The only reason it would not happen is if HR, the CIO and the CEO are all in bed with each other... which I've seen before, and trust me that gets ugly quick.

[SuburbanFarmer]

Depends on the level of the IT, and their position in the grand scheme of things. If it's done right the CTO gets in touch with the Director, and the direction goes to the manager, then the manager is supposed to go to the people doing the actual IT to get feedback... Then once compiled, it moves its way in reverse...

That is how I run my ship... most don't because the Director thinks that they are in touch with everything, when in reality, as proven, we aren't.

I mentioned it in another thread, but our new CIO thinks he needs to personally approve any change to any system. Production has ground to a complete halt, and the IT team is working 24/7 to bail water rather than fix problems. It’s madness.

The CIO right, he/she does have to approve any changes. What he/she should be doing instead is working with the team to get the best answer, because what happens is that if things grind to a halt, that means that everything gets stopped... and if production stops money is lost.

If money is lost, they start looking at where the failure is, it is easy to blame the IT department, but if they do a true investigation of where the decision making comes from and how it's made, you'll be looking for a new CIO sooner than later.

The only reason it would not happen is if HR, the CIO and the CEO are all in bed with each other... which I've seen before, and trust me that gets ugly quick.

Changes to production code - sure, at a high level. I mean this guy wants to ‘approve’ every index change or config change across 7 database servers, even reports.

Best part is - he has zero technical knowledge. He’s a business user. I literally work for a moron.

He doesn’t even respond to approval requests, 9 of 10 times, so we’re stuck fixing individual shipping orders by hand.

Then he brags about his Tesla, or having been to Europe, because he thinks we’re all closeted morons. Walks into the room and comments that we shouldn’t eat at our desks, because we’re getting fat, while staring at our sysAdmin. Does not listen to actual problems, when he asks for them, but wants more ‘monitoring’.

The best one - asked me the other day to get a dashboard together to find database issues. I show him the one I sent him weeks ago, and he doesn’t like that it’s outside of what he already has (NewRelic). Then walks me through new relic to see a page listing the 10 longest-running queries.

I can give you that on a 10-second refresh any time of day. Now why are they running slow?

Fucking. Idiot.

[Speaker to Animals]

That's awesome.

Maybe he just enjoys it.

[The Conservative]

I mentioned it in another thread, but our new CIO thinks he needs to personally approve any change to any system. Production has ground to a complete halt, and the IT team is working 24/7 to bail water rather than fix problems. It’s madness.

The CIO right, he/she does have to approve any changes. What he/she should be doing instead is working with the team to get the best answer, because what happens is that if things grind to a halt, that means that everything gets stopped... and if production stops money is lost.

If money is lost, they start looking at where the failure is, it is easy to blame the IT department, but if they do a true investigation of where the decision making comes from and how it's made, you'll be looking for a new CIO sooner than later.

The only reason it would not happen is if HR, the CIO and the CEO are all in bed with each other... which I've seen before, and trust me that gets ugly quick.

Changes to production code - sure, at a high level. I mean this guy wants to ‘approve’ every index change or config change across 7 database servers, even reports.

Best part is - he has zero technical knowledge. He’s a business user. I literally work for a moron.

He doesn’t even respond to approval requests, 9 of 10 times, so we’re stuck fixing individual shipping orders by hand.

Then he brags about his Tesla, or having been to Europe, because he thinks we’re all closeted morons. Walks into the room and comments that we shouldn’t eat at our desks, because we’re getting fat, while staring at our sysAdmin. Does not listen to actual problems, when he asks for them, but wants more ‘monitoring’.

The best one - asked me the other day to get a dashboard together to find database issues. I show him the one I sent him weeks ago, and he doesn’t like that it’s outside of what he already has (NewRelic). Then walks me through new relic to see a page listing the 10 longest-running queries.

I can give you that on a 10-second refresh any time of day. Now why are they running slow?

Fucking. Idiot.

Sounds like the people I used to work for in a plastics fabrication company. If you have already attempted to bring this issue up with the CIO, then you may need to escalate it further... the problem is that you play with fire when you take on anyone in the C-Class level of enterprise.

If you are going to do it, you may need to the COO and the CFO, because these two are responsible for what the CIO is not doing properly. If you are going to do it, make sure you have all your ducks in a row and have proof before going there, otherwise your ass is going to find yourself in another job real quick, which will either be taking out the trash, or being the trash taken out.

[SuburbanFarmer]

The CIO right, he/she does have to approve any changes. What he/she should be doing instead is working with the team to get the best answer, because what happens is that if things grind to a halt, that means that everything gets stopped... and if production stops money is lost.

If money is lost, they start looking at where the failure is, it is easy to blame the IT department, but if they do a true investigation of where the decision making comes from and how it's made, you'll be looking for a new CIO sooner than later.

The only reason it would not happen is if HR, the CIO and the CEO are all in bed with each other... which I've seen before, and trust me that gets ugly quick.

Changes to production code - sure, at a high level. I mean this guy wants to ‘approve’ every index change or config change across 7 database servers, even reports.

Best part is - he has zero technical knowledge. He’s a business user. I literally work for a moron.

He doesn’t even respond to approval requests, 9 of 10 times, so we’re stuck fixing individual shipping orders by hand.

Then he brags about his Tesla, or having been to Europe, because he thinks we’re all closeted morons. Walks into the room and comments that we shouldn’t eat at our desks, because we’re getting fat, while staring at our sysAdmin. Does not listen to actual problems, when he asks for them, but wants more ‘monitoring’.

The best one - asked me the other day to get a dashboard together to find database issues. I show him the one I sent him weeks ago, and he doesn’t like that it’s outside of what he already has (NewRelic). Then walks me through new relic to see a page listing the 10 longest-running queries.

I can give you that on a 10-second refresh any time of day. Now why are they running slow?

Fucking. Idiot.

Sounds like the people I used to work for in a plastics fabrication company. If you have already attempted to bring this issue up with the CIO, then you may need to escalate it further... the problem is that you play with fire when you take on anyone in the C-Class level of enterprise.

If you are going to do it, you may need to the COO and the CFO, because these two are responsible for what the CIO is not doing properly. If you are going to do it, make sure you have all your ducks in a row and have proof before going there, otherwise your ass is going to find yourself in another job real quick, which will either be taking out the trash, or being the trash taken out.

I don’t think we have a COO, and the CFO is completely concerned with the finance dept.
Their venture backers just put a new CEO in place last week, so there’s some hope that he makes changes, but who knows.

Yeah, there’s nowhere to turn here. It helps to complain, but the real solution is just moving on - which I may be doing next week. Waiting for an offer in writing before I give my notice.

It’s just amazing how poorly something can be run like this. I haven’t seen this level of incompetence since I worked in restaurants.

[The Conservative]

Changes to production code - sure, at a high level. I mean this guy wants to ‘approve’ every index change or config change across 7 database servers, even reports.

Best part is - he has zero technical knowledge. He’s a business user. I literally work for a moron.

He doesn’t even respond to approval requests, 9 of 10 times, so we’re stuck fixing individual shipping orders by hand.

Then he brags about his Tesla, or having been to Europe, because he thinks we’re all closeted morons. Walks into the room and comments that we shouldn’t eat at our desks, because we’re getting fat, while staring at our sysAdmin. Does not listen to actual problems, when he asks for them, but wants more ‘monitoring’.

The best one - asked me the other day to get a dashboard together to find database issues. I show him the one I sent him weeks ago, and he doesn’t like that it’s outside of what he already has (NewRelic). Then walks me through new relic to see a page listing the 10 longest-running queries.

I can give you that on a 10-second refresh any time of day. Now why are they running slow?

Fucking. Idiot.

Sounds like the people I used to work for in a plastics fabrication company. If you have already attempted to bring this issue up with the CIO, then you may need to escalate it further... the problem is that you play with fire when you take on anyone in the C-Class level of enterprise.

If you are going to do it, you may need to the COO and the CFO, because these two are responsible for what the CIO is not doing properly. If you are going to do it, make sure you have all your ducks in a row and have proof before going there, otherwise your ass is going to find yourself in another job real quick, which will either be taking out the trash, or being the trash taken out.

I don’t think we have a COO, and the CFO is completely concerned with the finance dept.
Their venture backers just put a new CEO in place last week, so there’s some hope that he makes changes, but who knows.

Yeah, there’s nowhere to turn here. It helps to complain, but the real solution is just moving on - which I may be doing next week. Waiting for an offer in writing before I give my notice.

It’s just amazing how poorly something can be run like this. I haven’t seen this level of incompetence since I worked in restaurants.

Lol, larger the corporation the more inept the upper management becomes.

That being said, this may be the perfect time to get the CEO's attention on things you see before the CIO gets their claws into them.

If the CFO is concerned with the finance department, then he should about residual issues that keep well, finance from being made, and to me this seems like a pretty big oopsie.

[SuburbanFarmer]

Sounds like the people I used to work for in a plastics fabrication company. If you have already attempted to bring this issue up with the CIO, then you may need to escalate it further... the problem is that you play with fire when you take on anyone in the C-Class level of enterprise.

If you are going to do it, you may need to the COO and the CFO, because these two are responsible for what the CIO is not doing properly. If you are going to do it, make sure you have all your ducks in a row and have proof before going there, otherwise your ass is going to find yourself in another job real quick, which will either be taking out the trash, or being the trash taken out.

I don’t think we have a COO, and the CFO is completely concerned with the finance dept.
Their venture backers just put a new CEO in place last week, so there’s some hope that he makes changes, but who knows.

Yeah, there’s nowhere to turn here. It helps to complain, but the real solution is just moving on - which I may be doing next week. Waiting for an offer in writing before I give my notice.

It’s just amazing how poorly something can be run like this. I haven’t seen this level of incompetence since I worked in restaurants.

Lol, larger the corporation the more inept the upper management becomes.

That being said, this may be the perfect time to get the CEO's attention on things you see before the CIO gets their claws into them.

If the CFO is concerned with the finance department, then he should about residual issues that keep well, finance from being made, and to me this seems like a pretty big oopsie.

Absolute truth. The CIO used to work for Ford. Probably middle management of some kind.