<story><title>The absolute worst scenario happened</title><url>https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/ma4mwl/the_absolute_worst_case_scenario_happened_what</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>tw04</author><text>I actually don&amp;#x27;t see any issue that isn&amp;#x27;t simply a matter of money.&lt;p&gt;Everything they list that&amp;#x27;s an issue seems to revolve around the fact that the employees with domain knowledge for the system have left the company.&lt;p&gt;Reach out to them and hire them on as contractors.  If they left under bad terms because the business was a bunch of dicks, expect to pay 10x market rate.  If this is truly &amp;quot;fix this or the business is out of business&amp;quot; - then it shouldn&amp;#x27;t be a tough decision to make.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>throwthescene</author><text>Throwaway purely so that I can comment. I&amp;#x27;ve had this happen before.&lt;p&gt;Years ago I left a rather awful company - I left on great terms with my boss, though I hated the company. I was the last person who knew how to release X product. While I documented everything, after I left, the wiki lost its mind, backups apparently weren&amp;#x27;t a thing, and the director of IT moved to Bermuda.&lt;p&gt;Fast forward 6 months.. a contractual obligation existed to release the software. They still hadn&amp;#x27;t successfully built (yup autoconf, make and friends), let alone know where to build it. I got the call you always dream about, 30 days prior to the release being due.&lt;p&gt;My boss asked me to do him a favour - I reminded him that I quit due to a lack of promotion and raises. He asked what I want, and I asked for 125K, which clearly he scoffed at. Then I reminded him that it was a 10M deal they&amp;#x27;d signed, because we had an all hands. The CEO got involved and screamed at me for &amp;#x27;torpedoing the company&amp;#x27;.  I walked out and calmly informed them both along the way the price was now 250K, non negotiable.&lt;p&gt;I ignored every single mail (and legal letter) sent me way. With 10 days left, they agreed. I had the company deposit a cheque in escrow with lawyers of my choosing. We signed contracts, and I did my thing. Four days of work. It was well worth it.&lt;p&gt;Dougie, if you&amp;#x27;re reading this I hope your cringing.</text></comment>
<story><title>The absolute worst scenario happened</title><url>https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/ma4mwl/the_absolute_worst_case_scenario_happened_what</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>tw04</author><text>I actually don&amp;#x27;t see any issue that isn&amp;#x27;t simply a matter of money.&lt;p&gt;Everything they list that&amp;#x27;s an issue seems to revolve around the fact that the employees with domain knowledge for the system have left the company.&lt;p&gt;Reach out to them and hire them on as contractors.  If they left under bad terms because the business was a bunch of dicks, expect to pay 10x market rate.  If this is truly &amp;quot;fix this or the business is out of business&amp;quot; - then it shouldn&amp;#x27;t be a tough decision to make.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Accujack</author><text>It&amp;#x27;s slightly more complicated than that, depending on how much time has passed since the creators of the system left, but you&amp;#x27;re correct in general.&lt;p&gt;Usually, since admitting that they were stupid to let all the knowledge of the system walk out the door requires more emotional and intellectual flexibility than managers who let this sort of thing happen possess, the biggest obstacle isn&amp;#x27;t even the money... it&amp;#x27;s getting the managers to admit they&amp;#x27;re idiots.</text></comment>