I went from a software dev role at a B2B SaaS company to a consulting role about a year and a half ago. It has been eye opening to say the least.
One of my first projects was helping a Fortune 500 company run analytics on AWS with data sourced from their Db2 mainframe, which had been in production for multiple decades. Most clients are very uncomfortable with Linux, and Microsoft stack is definitely the default. IT usually keeps the corporate network and individual workstations under VERY strict control, so getting new tech onboarded or new processes implemented can be a multi-week territorial battle.
It truly is a different world at most places.
ETA: I forgot to mention that things at FAANG companies may not be as different as you think. I am currently working with a business team at one which is using a few tools based entirely on Excel and VBA.
One of my first projects was helping a Fortune 500 company run analytics on AWS with data sourced from their Db2 mainframe, which had been in production for multiple decades. Most clients are very uncomfortable with Linux, and Microsoft stack is definitely the default. IT usually keeps the corporate network and individual workstations under VERY strict control, so getting new tech onboarded or new processes implemented can be a multi-week territorial battle.
It truly is a different world at most places.
ETA: I forgot to mention that things at FAANG companies may not be as different as you think. I am currently working with a business team at one which is using a few tools based entirely on Excel and VBA.