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(reposted from another board)
Is anyone aware of any Y2K simulation tests that are being done for the purpose of assessing the extent of the problems that would result in the computer systems of a 'typical' company ?
SunGaurd and Comdisco operate disaster recovery centers around the country and have contracts with 100s of major corporations. If a customer's data center takes a hit, then the disaster recovery center can start up key applications to take over (major companies regularly transmit software updates and data files to the disaster recovery site for backup). Effectively, these sites are 'backup data centers'. It seems to me that they would also make outstanding Y2K Simulation Centers.
The idea (God help us if I am the first to think of it) is that Gartner (or a reasonable substitute) ought to team up with SunGuard or Comdisco, and a couple of their 'indicative' client companies in each of several industries (banking, utilities, telecom)that have disaster recovery contracts in place (and up-to-date systems and data back-ups). They could use those idle CPUs to run the client's systems with various Y2K-related dates then assess the damage.
Yes, this is probably not part of the standard disaster recovery
contract and yes this would cost a lot of money. But for $10
or $20 million (or even a multiple of that), it might be a bargain.
We would have some decent 'empirical' evidence of the extent of the damage that might be done by Y2K.
If I were Bill Clinton, I'd fund it in a second.
Of course, this kind of simulation would only provide information
about the extent of the problems (lost data, inaccurate reports,
application failures) in the company's systems, and would not tell
us a lot about the problems arising externally (customers, suppliers...).
But a simulation done for a manufacturer, for example, might help to extrapolate the systemic problems too (ie. simulation shows accounts payable program failed, ordering systems failed, etc.).
Perhaps such 'evidence' would be sufficient to rebuff the people who still fail to see a significant problem in Y2K.
Please post any info on Y2K simulations or re-post this request to other boards (if you are of a mind to do so) where it might turn up an answer. Someone must be doing this....and Im sure we would all like to see the results.
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