If you need unfettered admin access to modernise software, you're incompetent. You might need to be able to run tools that collect schema and sample records as

If you need unfettered admin access to modernise software, you're incompetent. You might need to be able to run tools that collect schema and sample records as admin, but that should be controlled and auditable. This is true in a moderate size enterprise company, and should be much more true in government IT.