I wouldn't assume the fault is with the people who built the system. There is a reason they're looking desperately for people who know COBOL. Implied: they don'

I wouldn't assume the fault is with the people who built the system. There is a reason they're looking desperately for people who know COBOL. Implied: they don't have any, and the systems have been ticking along for decades with the occasional call to a consultant who asked more than they would pay to modernize them. Now management will pay even more because they're desperate and end up with a rushed solution that breaks again in the next crisis.