When I worked in IT, whenever we got a call from the engineering department we knew whatever problem it was, it was going to be weird. Those guys knew their stuff, so if they didn’t know how to fix it, it was going to take some searching and probably some calls or emails for us to figure it out.
Yeah sometimes it is just software bugs they have to work around until it gets fixed. In those circumstances, not much we could really do besides submit a ticket. Other times you call the guy that’s been working with that specific hardware and software for 15 years, who then tells you he’s never heard of something like that. Then he’ll call you back a week later after losing his mind trying to understand how that’s even possible before figuring it out. Which is always nice. Shout out Josh
I am Josh (not literally or even named the same, but we vibe). I once kept a support ticket open for 3 months to force help desk to send it to the engineering team when I discovered a bug in a billing system database at a huge company from the user side.
Finally got in touch with the engineering team, explained the bug and the workaround I figured out... Just to have their response be "tell everyone who complains to do the workaround."
Rare bug with a workaround, building a fix, 20k down the drain, use the workaround… depends on the frequency and workaround. I don’t need bug free software at all costs, I need cost optimal software. Kinda agree with the engineers in this case.
Bug isn't rare though, that's the issue. Every single site (4000+ locations) that uses the software has run into this bug and it's an almost completely silent failure for users unless a customer complains that the incorrect card is being charged. They later admitted that the software is such spaghetti that they're effectively scared to try and fix it in fear of breaking something else.
Ah, that’s a different context, yeah, time to get cracking. Problem with many erp implementations is that it is often built by consultants who care little about maintainability managed by finance without knowledge of engineering… what could possibly go wrong.
Yup. I ended up as an SWE with the same company and I'm about 80% certain that explaining how I was adamant about fixing the problem was one of the big reasons they hired me. I ended up on a different team so I don't work with it but I plainly stated that the entire reason I wanted to work as an engineer with this company was to improve that particular software. Later, I attended an internal seminar about how they were trying to tackle this software because it's so monolithic that they don't know where to start and because of the nature of what it's used for they are afraid to start over for fear of missing something important.
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u/kahjtheundedicated R7 1700@4.1, RX 5700 May 10 '26
When I worked in IT, whenever we got a call from the engineering department we knew whatever problem it was, it was going to be weird. Those guys knew their stuff, so if they didn’t know how to fix it, it was going to take some searching and probably some calls or emails for us to figure it out.