September 1997 edition
Contact: Alan
Earls, Editor
Software Publications, Inc.
108 Water St., Watertown MA 02172
617/926-1900 http://www.bosoft.com
Tick Talk: Boston Millennium Association
Tackles Y2K Bug
Local Group Moves Forward with Mutual Support Efforts
By Charles E. Vermette
It seemed like a good idea when data storage was at a premium: save two bytes of core memory by using two digit numbers to represent dates. The cost of storage nose-dived, but the convention stayed. As a consequence, our infrastructure is under the control of computers that don't recognize that the year 1999 is followed by the year 2000-not the year 1900. According to the Gartner Group, it's a problem that will cost $300 to $600 billion worldwide to fix-a figure that doesn't include potential secondary costs (read: litigation.)
Boston IT professionals with responsibility for Y2K projects have a place to turn to in the Boston Millennium Association. Starting with six members just nine months ago, the BMA's August 1st meeting at the World Trade Center drew over 100 participants. The focus was on "Testing: Strategy and Approach", and featured representatives from Fidelity Investments, Coopers and Lybrand, Eastern Utilities, Bank of Boston, ITS Associates, Liberty Mutual, and The New England. Numerous Y2K solution providers made a showing, including IBM, New Dimension Software, Serena, Princeton Softech, Mercury Interactive, Comdisco, Strategia, and The Vermillion Group.
Bob Cohen of the ITAA spoke on the Associations "Year 2000 Certification program," which ensures that a firm is taking a "mature approach to their Y2K Development methods and processes." Edward Sanicki of Princeton Softech noted that "we attend Y2K events all over the country, and the turnout here is well above what we usually see. The BMA has done an excellent job of putting together the right target audience with right solution providers."
BMA Chair Shelia Perkins was hired back in September of 1996 by Epsilon Data Management of Burlington to coordinate Epsilon's year 2000 project. "I needed to quickly come up to speed on Year 2000," she explains, "and what better way than to meet with my colleagues at other companies who are in the same boat. BMA has had 3 meetings to date: awareness, solutions and testing. We try to do them monthly, and we've been fortunate in that our members are gracious in their willingness to sponsor."
Wayne Dyer, a co-founder of BMA and a Project Leader of IT systems at Converse, came to the conference "to see what different testing strategies other companies are using, and to see what other avenues we should be looking at." He also came "to find out more about the ITAA Y2K Certification program, what it entails, and what it has to offer."
Converse has taken a proactive approach to the Y2K problem. "We've been working on the problem for over a year. We've changed over several systems, and implemented others. I've been pleased with our progress." When asked how he was dealing with the issue of outside Y2K compliance, Dyer noted that "we have people contacting all of our outside vendors regarding their Year 2000 readiness."
Dyer also commented on the difficulties of budgeting for Y2K fixes. He explains that Converse takes the approach that "We haven't taken a great deal of time up front trying to nail down accurate predictions. it's a project we fell we have to do, whether it's going to cost one, ten of fifteen million dollars."
"We've done the analysis to ensure that we have the resources in place to do the job and do it on time," Dyer adds. "Whether it takes us 3,000 man hours or 3, 257.6 man hours is irrelevant". Indeed, Dyer says the rules of cost benefit analysis don't apply because, quite simply, "If you don't do the job properly, you may not stay in business." Unfortunately, many are shying away from approaching the Y2K problem for just this reason. Dyer recommends "picking a pilot system or pilot project. You'll find out fairly quickly what type of problem-and what magnitude of problem-you're dealing with."
Beyond this "get your hands dirty" approach, Dyer is reluctant to generalize about specific solutions. "Every organization is unique. You can talk to ten different companies and find them taking ten different approaches. You may come up with something entirely different. While you're doing your analysis and determining your needs, you may be surprised. It may not be as bad as you thought; then again, it may be twice as bad as you thought. In either case, the sooner you know, the better off you'll be."
Dyer's attitude was one echoed by many participants-the Y2K challenge is formidable but not insurmountable. Time, however, is of the essence. Brian Camenker of the Newton based Vermillion Group warns that "If you're looking for a silver bullet, you're not going to find one. This is a problem that -unfortunately-is only going to be solved the hard way." Furthermore, he adds that "many people are so terrified that they're not doing anything." As a first step, Camenker recommends "taking an inventory of everything you have, and determine what's Y2K complaint and what isn't. At that point, you can at least get a sense of where you stand and what you have to accomplish."
Camenker describes the Y2K solution as having four pillars: the inventory, the planning process, the renovation process, and the testing process. "The amount of time and resources needed depends not on the size of the company, but the size of the systems involved". Camenker cautions that "there are some very small companies that have a huge job ahead of them, and there are big companies that will find it a piece of cake. It all depends on what they have under the covers. If they're getting data from the outside, and then integrating that data into different internal systems, they're going to have a horror show on their hands."