Yep, and Software Vendors are experts at identifying who in that patchwork has purchasing authority and what their procurement limits are. They will craft their software sale to stay within certain limits in order to avoid the next level of procurement approval.

In their defense, it is not just incompetence on the part of the customer. Software Vendors love to come up with intricate and convoluted licensing terms. They are experts at obfuscation. Of course, just using 'open source' as an answer isn't necessarily the right thing. It should be a combination of closely monitored procurement practices along with select open sourcing when it make sense.

expecting x years with one product, y years with another product, and z years with a third, while specifying that it's an intermediate position

You misread the job description. The JOB is experienced. The salary is intermediate.

Those chips are used in the servers IBM still sells: Mainframe & p-Series. Closing down the chips business would destroy their high margin mainframe business.

Ginni learned how to do this from her predecessor. Sam was the 'visionary', Ginni is just following through on his roadmap.

Yes!!!

No!!!

Maybe!!!