techweb.com
August 02, 1999, Issue: 1519
Section: Management
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Y2K paralysis
David Myron
While Outboard Marine Corp. expects to be Y2K-compliant by the fourth quarter (see page 68), not all companies are on the road to compliance. A bill signed by President Clinton two weeks ago provides vendors and VARs some protection from frivolous Y2K lawsuits, but there's still some cause for concern. Just ask Lynn Edelson, principal at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP's operational and systems risk management group in Los Angeles. Of the 15 large corporations she is personally consulting on Y2K risk management issues, only one is currently Y2K-ready. (Due to confidentiality agreements, she could not divulge company names.)
[Cripes! This is pathetic...Only one out of fifteen clients?...I also wonder if she's using the term "Y2K-ready" v. "Y2K compliant" appropriately. If she is...well,...]
The main reason large corporations are not Y2K-compliant, Edelson says, is due to "analysis paralysis," or too much talk and not enough action. The most common excuse among small and midsize businesses is naivete. "Small and midsize businesses are very naive," she says. "They think their vendor partners will fix the problem."
Edelson predicts the first shock to the global economy will come immediately after the new year, but the aftershock that follows will be even more devastating.
"Problems will start to bubble up and by the second quarter, there will be a big mess," she says, adding it will take years to clean up the aftermath. Sounds like the Y2K opportunity for VARs will continue well after the calendar flips.
When asked to pick a number between 1 and 10 that rates the Y2K impact on the U.S. economy (with 1 being "no impact" and 10 being "Armageddon"), Edelson selects between 2 and 3. She says the United States is ahead of the rest of the world in Y2K preparedness. To that end, she believes the Y2K impact on the global economy will be higher, between 4 and 5.
[Half of Armageddon? Hmmm...Is she an optimist or a pessimist on the global economy?]
By the way, while VARBusiness editors didn't ask, Edelson voluntarily notes that she is not stocking extra food to tide her through the millennium.
Copyright ® 1999 CMP Media Inc.
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