Field Service built a replacement for exactly one feature of SAP

“It's not customer-facing.”— HR Generalist

Reason:

Because the budget appeared unexpectedly on Friday. With 2 users, one of whom is the CEO.

Built by:

Jens, a team lead

Build time:

4 hours 19 minutes

Built with:

Excel macros, exposed over HTTP

Database:

a Postgres replica that accidentally became primary

Authentication:

Jens knows the password

Deployment:

deployed on Wednesday immediately before a public holiday

Responsible:

HR Generalist, who delegated it to somebody who left

Documentation:

a Loom video nobody can find

Security situation:

rate limiting consists of hoping nobody notices

Future disaster:

It will fail exactly when Elena is on holiday.

Age: 364 days · originally expected to last 4 weeks · 2 owners so far · survived 1 reorganisation · last meaningful change 364 days ago · original builder left 356 days ago

Rated rare mostly because: 509 users, the builder has left, alive 12x longer than intended.