I'm more of a coder (and highly prefer adhoc/throwaway POC coding) but slipped into the same thing. By being someone who fixes the annoying problems I've bumped

I'm more of a coder (and highly prefer adhoc/throwaway POC coding) but slipped into the same thing. By being someone who fixes the annoying problems I've bumped into useful people in various departments which helps bring things together when I need to. Of course, they now have processes to avoid favours and such so we all have to go through the same internal ticketing and scheduling system and it's completely random whether you will get someone useful and helpful or not. You don't even see a name on the reply most times. I knew an older guy who retired a few years ago and he also called himself glue at the time. He'd long abandoned coding (he secretly admitted to me that he could do a bit, but publicly claimed ignorance) but had a good handle on what the company could do and who was doing it, which helped him talk to the right people to design feasible solutions for customers.