Me: "You need a new server. The current one is 14 years old, critical, and starting to show signs of fatigue and inadequacy."
Them: "No, make it work. At most, we'll add more RAM."
Me: "We should still upgrade it, and no, you can't keep running virtualized Windows Server 2008 indefinitely, even if it's only on the LAN. You need to plan an upgrade for the entire infrastructure."
Them: "No, we have no budget for this (after spending thousands of euros on purely aesthetic office redecorations for staff offices, which were already in excellent condition)."
Me: "It's about 3,000, maximum 4,000 euros - do you realize that if that server were to go down, the loss for you would be in those figures every hour of downtime? Maybe you don't worry about it, but I do, because I understand what you're risking."
Them: "Find a way to make the current hardware work stably so you can stop worrying."
Me: "Okay, I've found the solution. From now on, you can find yourselves a new consultant, because from now on, I've already stopped worrying about you."
Sometimes it's necessary, unfortunately.
@stefano "make it work" lol