I wonder if it is because it lacks critical importance and sexiness.
So it lives out of the limelight.
Also expectations of internal tools are low.
Think about the sexiest jobs in tech. They are working with the newest technology, or developing the funnest resulting product.
If you have someone working on the latest machine learning technology, management has a vested interest in keeping those folks happy.
If you have someone working on computer games, the employee has a vested interest in working hard because they're doing something really cool.
But internal tools development? Expectations from the rest of the company are low, it is viewed as a necessary evil by management but not a revenue generator, and to many employees working there, it is a stepping stone.
Which is really a shame. Good internal tools can really foster a good culture. Shitty tools really take people's minds off the ball.
The worst is when some shitty off-the-shelf tool is site-licensed and shoehorned into an organization and people just suffer. I vaguely remember working somewhere where some sales tool was used as the bug-tracker or trouble-ticket system. gah.
This is the ad-absurdum[0] conclusion of the "Cost Center". Cost Centers don't make money, they cost money. Therefore any money you spend on them is lost.
Along with this you have the Iron Law of Bureaucracy - organizations tend (tend!, it's not absolute) to further themselves ahead of their stated goals or directives.
The right question everyone should be asking is how does the parent organization actually make money, and how to help them do that?
