I have worked in IT for my entire 20s. I have prided myself on holding myself to a high standard. However earlier this year, I accepted a Systems Administrator Role to be closer to my family, since my mother had just passed away.
Merely weeks into the role, I began noticing how poorly their systems were being managed. Such as running core services on server 2000 and by far the least secure environment I have ever seen. When bringing these items of note up to the IT Director, I was told “Just because” “We don't want to change” “What we have been doing is working.” During my first few weeks in the role, there was a decent sized breach, due to not having any MFA enabled. (Multi Factor Authentication). I also saw many systems that were housing sensitive data on server 2000, mind you, this is 2022, and they have the fully capabilities to migrate these systems to newer operating systems.
After attempting to plan projects, and get them up to speed, I was encountering a more and more hostile attitude towards the changes. When questioning if they even want to improve, I was told if I do not like it, there is the door.
I bided my time, wrote up the lengthiest full-scale technical analysis of their entire environment. Documented all my interactions, and then quit with no notice, after emailing the “IT Directors” Superiors.
Last I heard, he was fired from the role after my review was seen. Sadly, I had to part from a decent paying salary. However I find it unacceptable that anyone in an IT Director position has the brain capacity to be running things so poorly. It is a disservice to the title, and a shame that he has been paid nearly 800,000$ in his 10 years in this role, while allowing such poor practices to exist.
It makes me question why I am incapable of landing such a role when there are literal clowns out there running things. I hope one day this entire experience can be used as an example of how not to become such a poor leader. This was terrifying. I am thankful everday I have quit (over 2 months) that I held my ground for the sake of acceptable standards. It should be criminal to have such negligence in charge of sensitive systems.
If someone says if you don't like it, there is the door, and they are causing you to turn a blind eye to malpractice, or lack of standards, Id encourage anyone to take it. Do not lower your own value because someone above you has none. Keep your head held high. Do not compromise yourself for any superior.