(Off topic Y2K) << b)Technology companies sales
who sell techno hardware/software to these corps and thus a hit on
the Nasdaq>>
Not necessarily. The major cost of Y2K will be labor. Armies of consultants and contractors programming to fix the problem. They all need PCs to perform their job. Also, I am not sure how capital budgeting works, but if end user departments purchase their own PCs for their sales force or whatever, it may not matter how much money is being spent in information systems to fix y2k. The purchases come from two separate budgets.
Also, rather than spending millions fixing outdated systems, many companies will choose to replace them with systems utilizing new technology. Systems like Peoplesoft, Baan, Oracle, SAP .... If the cost is the same, why not upgrade??? You kill two birds with one stone.
Finally, I don't belive companies are spending huge sums on Y2K. If they were, you would see a huge runup in billing rates. We have not yet seen that. Cobol programming rates in my part of the country are up maybe 25% to 50% from a couple of years ago, but still less than half the rates of those skilled in hot technology. Perhaps that says something about the huge supply of Cobol programmers in the labor market. |
