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... information: It's the data. These applications (large mailing lists, financial information) open the door to a unique solution that solves two of the larger problems at once. Writing plug in enterprise wide replacements for the flawed application has two 2.
Offers the chance to enhance productivity through upgrading software Allows independent startups to show up with "magic bullets" that IT managers that are unprepared will be looking for at any cost towards the end of the millennia. Unfortunately, it also has pitfalls: High R&D cost. Whether absorbed by a independent software house or a client corporation, such programs are expensive to develop on a large scale, but will represent a large portion of the fixes for small Point-of-Sale terminals and imbedded firmware applications. This high cost comes both in the complex nature of the programs and the man-hours required developing these solutions. High implementation cost. Unless over a large scale, the research and development expense will be recouped at This is the solution being implemented in corporations with large IT sections and has some plan in place.
Through re-engineering their existing source code they can develop applications that support the 2000 format. At the same time new features can be added and the source can be recompiled to work under improved hardware. Like any other approach, it has its benefits and pitfalls. This approach makes use of existing source code, and where compilers are available and supported it can make in-house expertise with that source code. Source conversion products for several mainframe languages such as COBOL and Assembler are becoming available. While these are part of the solution, a lot of code manipulation is still required to make the product work as expected.
While such programs can handle programs that get the date from the operating system, they cannot handle areas where the date is an integral part of a numerical algorithm. This problem still requires analyzing the code by hand and often requires less external assistance and support, leading to a much cheaper solution for companies. This solution requires a significant amount of planning in advance and is often not practical for many ventures that haven't begun their 2000 conversions. Some hardware systems are the problem in that the date they provide from the hardware will not be functional after the year 2000, or before. IBM has announced such patches for its S 390 processor machines running VMS 5. 1 or later.
Intel based personal computers that do not support the 2000 format in their BIOS will have a real problem in that they will require a DATE command to be entered very time the machine is turned on! This is not a practical solution for applications that require organization around dates - what if an operator forgot to enter the date The software patches to hardware are a "quick fix", that will require a hardware (firmware) upgrade. The market for such BIOS chips is sure to grow exponentially fast after 2000 has passed given the millions of these machines in service. IBM PC's manufactured before 1996 (all) will have this problem. IBM has since promised that all machines shipped after 1996 will function properly after 2000.
Hardly the ideal solution. (Jan 1996 Datamation article by Joe Cell) The System is the Solution: Solving the 2000 Problem For most companies, the solution will involve a combination of the above strategies. How they will be implemented, and whether or not they will be in-house, contracted or some combination thereof will dictate a The first problem facing the IT manager in charge of developing a strategy to have their company undergo a smooth transition past 2000 is to determine what their problem is. How much of their software will be affected? What will be the consequences if no action is taken to resolve the problem?
Is their centralized database software capable of the change? What about client applications? These are only some of the questions that must be answered. Once a reasonable estimate of the scope of the problem that must be dealt with has been obtained, an assessment of the problem can then be made. Specifically: Is it cheaper to repair or replace the system?
There are several factors that must be considered here. If you are dealing with a mainframe computer, is the source code still available, and if so, is there a supported compiler that does not suffer from any inherent 2000 problems? If this is the case, do you have the people that can modify the code in house, or if not, do you know that adequate human An analysis of the expenditures and benefits to repairing the existing system may lead you to the conclusion that replacing your system altogether is a more attractive option. This step requires a great deal of planning and foresight. If your system is seriously affected, replacing your existing processing applications with new ones that can convert your old data may be an appropriate decision to make. What are your suppliers and customers doing?
If your systems are interdependent, then you need to agree on a format and a course of action. Using independent standards is the obvious intelligent choice, but whatever format that is agreed upon it must be implemented by all parties that will have systems affected by your own in-house changes. Develop a Strategy for Deployment and Testing Once you have committed to a plan of action, there needs to be a schedule for deployment and testing of the new system. There is no way that the deadline can be extended - regardless of your resources, you must be running when the Jan 1, 2000 clock rolls over, or there will be The year 2000 problem is the kind of programming project, which is typically subject to delays, and setbacks - characterized by serious time constraints, broadly defined scope and inter-compatibility problems.
Many sources recommend that a separate project manager with experience in these kinds of applications be hired to assist in the timely completion of your plans. This project manager should preferably have experience in dealing with year 2000 conversions, but as many companies are finding out, such experienced personnel are few and far Testing of the software has it's own unique problems and difficulties. Not only must you make sure that the software works with post-millennium code, but it must work with prior code and data alongside. This process is very time-consuming and where parallel testing equipment is not available (most cases), a large component of the testing will have to be carried out by hand, a time-consuming and error-prone process. "Systems must be well tested to ensure that functionality has not been changed in any program as a result of the date changes. This means a unit test of the program, a system test with a test bed of data covering all functions, a simulation test to any date in the future that may impact your system (this involves moving your data and your system date into the future), and finally, a test with historical data to make sure you can process old data through the system once changes are complete. Developing a test bed for these changes is a significant task.
The testing stage represents 40 % of the effort for the entire project. " -- Brenda McKelvey, from a report on the "Year 2000: Blueprint for Success" conference in Orlando, Florida, November 1995; Datamation No doubt about it - this is one project that is going to be extremely expensive for some companies. Whether it is money spent on converting or re-engineering their computer systems, or money lost on downtime caused by millennium bugs, the projected figures are enormous. Where will you get the financial resources to make the conversions? If you have been planning all along, then you have already established a fund that can be drawn off for consultation and implementation of the bug fixes.
If not, you will have to look into where resources can be drawn from to fully implement these changes before downtime starts costing you money. If your company had software developed that suffers from your spec, was inherent system failure written in the development contract for your systems, and if so, is legal action a possibility to recoup some of the costs associated with re-engineering or repairing your computer network? Start implementing your plan of action. The nature of the repairs and replacements are extremely time critical, and planning with regular progress meetings and code reviews should be undertaken to help assure that you are on track to staying on line throughout the next millennium - or at least until the next software upgrade. An Example: Case Study - Micro Corp Widget Producers, Inc.
Scenario: A small corporation, utilizing customized PC based sales software for Windows 95 and a larger, custom programmed database / retrieval system (old). This larger system talks to their supplier's computer to automatically ship source materials when they are low. The solution for Microcar pa Widgets is multi-faceted. Starting off on a checklist: Testing their PC's to determine if the BIOS will support the year 2000.
Without this, all their software will report incorrect dates, including the operating system. Analyzing their sales software to determine if it will handle the year 2000 correctly. Provided source code is available, the manipulation of the software to support the date format that is settled upon (IS 8601, of course. ) should not be a difficult task. If source code can not be obtained a re-write will have to be performed.
Talking to their suppliers to implement a IS compliant, or mutually agreeable, standard so that normal business particles will not be upset. Looking at their mainframe situation to determine if there is source code and compatible tools and compilers available. If so, are the programmers available to make the conversion a reality? Would moving to a more modern, more flexible system be an attractive move to make? Will it be a necessary move? On the basis of this impact analysis, develop a concise and clear strategy for moving their company on to Even a common setup like this has many potential problems and can be a very expensive one, especially if it is not handled properly & efficiently.
The biggest problem that this widget producer will have is convincing its managers that there is a problem that needs to be The one thing that this paper needs to demonstrate is that there is no silver flyswatter to kill this bug with for most medium and even small enterprises. Any corporation with in house software developed to handle inventory or database control will almost inevitably have to deal with this on some level which will involve a re-engineering or replacement situation, and will probably be very costly in terms of both dollars and man hours, and could be even more costly in terms of potential downtime. This is further compounded by the magnitude of the problem - there will be a worldwide shortage of people to deal with this problem. The only solution that will work for most is a multi-faceted one. The strategy for dealing with this problem must be well laid out well in advance, and must be implemented before the absolute deadline of 01 / 01 / 2000. Many information technology experts have already said that this deadline has in fact already passed and managers should now be looking at plans, which will include ways to minimize downtime at the From the entrepreneur's perspective this is a time which is full of opportunities.
There are several key applications which could be developed as "plug and play" fixes, making use of existing data formats for conversion and implementing a system which repairs the date problem and adds functionality or speed in the process. The sheer magnitude of the effects will make the upcoming years very interesting in the information technology field. One thing that everyone can be sure of - there will be a swift judgment of your preparedness on December 31, Bibliography: Web Pages and Web References "Legal Issues Surrounding the Year 2000 " Author: Jeff Jigger web "ISO 8601 Standard for Numerical Representation of Dates" International Standards Organization web "Year 2000 Issues List" Serge Bouwens, PTT Telecom, Netherlands web "The Millennium Mess" CACI Incorporated web "Experts Call Year 2000 Bug a Real Threat" Reuters News, Inc. web Datamation Magazine web Global Software, Inc. web
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