As a developer, I found your story offensive, especially the

self-serving cheap shots at "cowboy" developers...sometimes the developers that you perceive as "cowboys" are just trying to get the job done on time and within budget, and doing whatever it takes to make it happen, often without very much useful, timely

support from the DBAs. In the particular case you described, if your predecessor had done his/her job properly, there would have

been no need for the "cowboy" to go out and get the certificate

on his own.