> The mainframe apps were a cost center the company sought to minimize. a bit off topic, but this is a huge thing that I at least didn't pick up on across jobs

> The mainframe apps were a cost center the company sought to minimize. a bit off topic, but this is a huge thing that I at least didn't pick up on across jobs for many years - for accounting reasons, many firms will always see what your team is doing as an 'expense' to be 'minimized', no matter what you do, and in many cases, there is nothing you, or your manager, or even your managers manager can do to change this, since it is often decided at the highest levels of the firm based on broad-stroke accounting policies that have a direct impact to how the firms entire books (and therefore revenue/profit/etc) are calculated. IT/tech related? goes in a cost center. What's a cost center? an optional expense which can and should be minimized, with manager compensation often tied to how effectively costs are controlled. If anyone working in tech is not aware of the various accounting models used in business, it is well worth your time to get familiar with the basics - assignment of 'cost center' to technology groups in firms that use cost/revenue center models has a huge impact on how teams are likely run, decisions are made, and potential for career advancement for employees in those groups. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_centre_(business) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_centre_(business) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profit_center https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profit_center this is not the only costing model (job costing, activity based costing, etc) , but one in my view that is often hugely detrimental to technology teams in non-tech companies unfortunate enough to find themselves pre-categorised as a 'cost center'.