If the problems are "this link is saturated" or "we're out of compute capacity" and other run of the mill stuff, I think getting access, being able to measure,

If the problems are "this link is saturated" or "we're out of compute capacity" and other run of the mill stuff, I think getting access, being able to measure, identify and effect change is indeed the tough part. The problems themselves most often have simple short term remedies. I really think people blow out of proportion the actual requirements to keep things running, probably because they wish to see him fail. But everywhere I've worked, systems were most stable when engineers weren't there to muck with them. There's a reason many people refuse to ship on Friday.