Articles from over 14 years of practice: why legacy systems often hold more substance than their reputation suggests, what data sovereignty through self-hosted infrastructure really means, and why the most honest migration is the one that ends unspectacularly. With the odd anecdote from my own garage.
In its rush to modernise, industrial IT often discards the wrong thing. Why grown systems hold a value that appears on no balance sheet — on the dignity of old substance, the mindset of repair, and what a 40-year-old diesel without a single line of code has to add.
In industry, „managed service" often means the opposite of control. On the underrated virtue of running critical systems yourself — with three concrete points where self-hosted is genuinely the simpler, more sovereign choice. Including an honest look under my own bonnet.
„Still running" is not a state, it's a practice. Any COMOS database growing since the 90s needs care rather than periodic full rebuilds. On the calm, regular inspection, the seduction of the big bang — and why the most honest migration is the one that ends boringly.