Assuming this company has always been in the Software business, presumably at or near the top of the org is someone who understands code (having founded the company) and you could make a pitch to this person. The reason I suggest this is it bypasses the legal pitfalls, and if you play it right, may get your group a reasonable budget and some much needed freedom.
I seem to remember an article on Jerry Pournelle's website talking about the problems with NASA and one of these problems is that being a government agency, NASA cannot simply sack people who are not performing. NASA also has the usual "empire building" where different managers try to prove their dominance by building up their departments even if the new people do not add to the efficiency of the department. You also have the problem where managers are more concerned with internal politics than with the "Big Picture". Think "Dilbert" on a major scale.
Has anyone sent this to Microsoft yet? I think there is a hint here about server reliability. Can't wait to start seeing the ads from the server manufacturer "even works when completely sealed from the rest of the world!"
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Assuming this company has always been in the Software business, presumably at or near the top of the org is someone who understands code (having founded the company) and you could make a pitch to this person. The reason I suggest this is it bypasses the legal pitfalls, and if you play it right, may get your group a reasonable budget and some much needed freedom.
I seem to remember an article on Jerry Pournelle's website talking about the problems with NASA and one of these problems is that being a government agency, NASA cannot simply sack people who are not performing. NASA also has the usual "empire building" where different managers try to prove their dominance by building up their departments even if the new people do not add to the efficiency of the department. You also have the problem where managers are more concerned with internal politics than with the "Big Picture". Think "Dilbert" on a major scale.
Has anyone sent this to Microsoft yet? I think there is a hint here about server reliability. Can't wait to start seeing the ads from the server manufacturer "even works when completely sealed from the rest of the world!"