|
|
|
|
|
|
Vaccinating for the Y2K Bug: Getting Your Business Ready
By Priscilla B. Glynn
The millennium bug. The year 2000 problem. Y2K, for short. The clock is ticking; time’s running out. Will you be ready?
By now, everyone’s heard about it: or at least about some of the dire predictions surrounding it, and the trepidation it’s causing.
What IS It?
But what exactly is it? And how can one little date–January 1, 2000–cause all this trouble?
More important, how can it affect your organization–and your ability to do business?
"Y2K" has become shorthand for the problem arising from the fact that many computers, software programs and electronically controlled devices and machines are not designed to recognize the year 2000. Programmers of early computer systems represented each year by only its last two digits—"50" for 1950 and so on. This practice allowed them to save on computer memory and data storage, which were much more limited and expensive at the time. Those computer pioneers never dreamed that we’d still be relying on the systems they laid down decades later.
But the computer revolution that has
transformed the world has to a large extent been constructed upon
older systems containing this limitation–a limitation built
into everything from PC software to the actual wiring in chips
and transistors serving as timers and switches in homes, farms,
businesses and factories worldwide. The larger, older mainframe
computers still relied on by governments and big corporations for
many basic functions can also be affected.
The problem crops up when computers try to add or subtract dates for the next millennium in the 2-digit format. And unless it’s corrected, electronic systems and devices the world over may interpret "00" as 1900 rather than 2000–an arithmetical awkwardness that could affect everything from the provision of government services to conducting financial transactions to programming your VCR.
The Y2K problem can put an organization at risk because most data processing systems rely heavily on dates. A computer or other electronically controlled device that can’t interpret one date as greater than another can put a crimp in the stride of any organization.
The problem could hinder calculations of such vital matters as accounts receivable, supply requirements, production costs, inventories, taxes, investments and financial forecasts–to name a few. It could also cause automated devices in production lines to shut themselves off.
Getting a Jump on the Problem
So what can you do to get ready?
You can begin, of course, by thoroughly testing and making necessary adjustments to computerized systems. (Don’t overlook less obvious potential sources of difficulty, such as photocopiers, fax machines and voicemail phone systems.)
Contact your customers and your service providers (public and private) to assess their Y2K-readiness. Remember that in addition to the Federal Government, state and local agencies provide many services that may affect the course of your daily life.
__________________________________
The author is a public affairs specialist on the FAS
Information Division. Tel.: (202) 720-9441; Fax: (202) 720-3229;
E-mail: glynnp@fas.usda.gov
|
|