Do you know where you’re going to be when the world’s biggest party kicks off on the eve of New Year’s 2000?
If you’re a computer systems worker you just might be behind your desk patching software code, testing files or simply pulling out your hair.
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Much has been said about the need for addressing “Y2K” issues months and years before the fateful day arrived, but the job is far from over at the turn of the century.
“It will be all hands on deck,” said Tony Keyes, author of The Year 2000 Computer Crisis: An Investors’ Survival Guide. “There is no chance that anyone is going to have the confidence to feel as though they can go home and get a good night sleep or go to a party.”
Keyes, who worked in the information systems field for 18 years, said while some companies might see computer problems almost immediately into the New Year, other hang-ups could become apparent days or months later.
How serious the glitches will be could depend on how the company attacked the Y2K issue. If the proper steps were taken major problems can be averted. Yet Keyes said almost all companies can expect something to go wrong.
“Organizations are not going to solve problems that day that they couldn’t solve in the months or years previous. The companies that did the work they had to do will be there to put out the small fires and creating workarounds,” Keyes said.
For companies providing vital services, like the utilities or hospitals, New Year’s Eve will be an anxious time.
“Nobody, nowhere can predict what is going to happen at the stroke of midnight. This is the first time something like this has ever happened,” said Karen Berardino, spokesperson for the parent company of Narragansett Electric.
“We will surely be fully staffed,” she added.
Berardino of New England Electric Systems said the electric company started addressing the issue in 1996. The company has since invested $25 million in preparing its 150 different computer programs, making changes or eliminating unnecessary programs and then running them through tests.
“We believe we will have the best systems in place to address this issue. We will also have protective measures in place in case something does go wrong at the stroke of midnight,” Berardino said.
The electric company has been working with a national electricity council, which shared concerns and makes recommendations.
“I think the likelihood of anything going wrong is very small, but I also think if something did go wrong it could have a major impact,” Berardino said.
Administrators at Lifespan have two major technologies to monitor. The first, and most vital, is the medical equipment that has Y2K issues. The other concern is their computer systems. Carol Cotter, vice president of informational services with Lifespan, said the hospitals have been identifying troubled medical equipment for the last six months. New computer chips and completely new equipment have been purchased.
“At midnight we will really be getting to work in addition to all of our preparation work,” Cotter said. “High risk equipment will be tested that night.”
She added that backup equipment will be on hand in case of any failures.
As for the information technology end of the operation, Cotter said an estimated 200 computer personnel will be working that night waiting for the unexpected.
Cotter said Lifespan has worked on the information technology issue for the last two years.
“We expect to have nuisance things come up just like any other business. We will have to prioritize those issues when the time comes,” she said.
She said information like patients’ medical histories will not be a concern.
“We still have paper charts so there is not a total reliance on computers,” she said.
For some companies computer failures will not need as immediate attention like a power outage or failing medical equipment will require.
“On January 1, 2000 I expect to be skiing. Because most of my clients won’t be working the holiday,” said John Wolcott, president of the computer consultant firm Sy-stemetrics of Cranston. “January 2 on the other hand will be my nightmare, when businesses come back to work and find something wrong.”
He said that February 1 won’t be a good day either. “That’s when month-end reports will be run and problems found. Will the reports age right is one question.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the first quarter of 2000 for our country is about picking up the pieces,” he said. “I think most companies have prepared for this so I wouldn’t agree with the doomsday believers, who say the world will come to an end on Jan.1, 2000.”
Keyes, the Y2K author, said it is not only a question of the United States preparation for the millennium, but the rest of the planet.
“There is this tsunami, a shock wave, that will be caused by foreign countries that are not prepared. It will be for us a socioeconomic tidal wave,” he said. “We by no means can flourish without all of our trading partners intact. More attention has to be paid to that issue.”
Keyes warned that the problems could be seen here and abroad months before the big ball falls in Times Square.
“Forty-four percent of companies in a recent survey have already reported having Y2K problems,” he said. “I expect that to increase into 1999.”
He said April 1, 1999 could be an indicator of what to expect in 2000. That date is the start of the fiscal year 2000 for several states, countries and companies. The next test will be July 1 when the remainder of the states start their fiscal year.
“The granddaddy though will be Oct. 1, 1999 because that is the federal start of the fiscal year,” said Keyes. “There will be this buildup of events throughout 1999 that will give us all a taste of what to expect. More importantly it will also provide some knowledge to tackle the worst date of them all: Jan. 1, 2000.”
