Agree totally. I came here to post exactly this sentiment and saw it had already been done. I have also been in this situation and I can say that this is NOT a

Agree totally. I came here to post exactly this sentiment and saw it had already been done. I have also been in this situation and I can say that this is NOT a technical problem, this is a political problem and the only person that is going to lose is the new guy - namely the OP. Of course the problem has a technical solution but the huge red flag is that there is no consensus. This means that whatever solution is put forward is going to upset someone and guess who the target of that ire is going to be. The only way this is viable is if someone with real power is backing the project and what he/she says goes.