I’ve worked with many of the largest companies across quite a few verticals in a product management capacity. Many large enterprises (think 200K+ employees) still have pockets of tool building and automation springing up everywhere. Big names you’ve heard of.

I’d be willing to bet money that this was happening where you were, but you may not have been exposed to it. It often shocks IT management what they find when turning on software auto-discovery and inventory tools.

These tools are often employed in operations and other non-core-to-the-business departments to simplify/automate busy work happening there.