I got a private message request to explain a few Y2K buzzwords and to sort out some to the industry players.
I guess I'll start with the first step: assessment. This simply means you assess what computer code you have, whether or not it has any potentially troublesome Y2K related date logic, and then determine approximately how long and how much it will take to fix.
The major players in the assessment arena are the big systems integrators, i.e. the people you call to help you automate a task. These companies include Keane (KEA), Computer Task Group (TSK), and even giants like IBM and EDS.
The next step is to get the affected code fixed. The easiest way is to give it to a bunch of programmers to go through line by line. Obviously the more lines of code, the mode programmers you would need. It just so happens that India has a multitude of skilled programmers who will work for rates much cheaper than their American counterparts. We call such companies "body shops" because they contain a lot of bodies. Such companies include IMRS, MAST, SYNT, and CBSL.
Many companies opt to try to fix the code themselves. To speed up the process, they often license tools (software programs) designed to find the dates and, in the better ones, actually correct them. Many programmers with dollar signs in their eyes have licensed these tools in an attempt to get some of the Y2K business for themselves. These "alliances" are sometimes reported on in press releases. Some tool vendors include ACLY, IAIC, MIFGY, PTUS, SEEC and VIAS.
As time gets short, many companies are opting to outsource their code to Y2K "factories". Although workers in body shops do often use custom tools, the factories offer a much higher degree of automation. Players here include ALYD, CSGI, FRXU, and ZITL (using Matridigm). However, as pointed out in an earlier post here, large companies like DEC and CA have set up their own factories using the tools supplied from one of the tool vendors, in this case ACLY and IAIC respectively.
Lastly, the code needs to be checked to see if truly is Y2K compliant. Companies that actually check code include CPWR, MERQ, and PLAT. Companies that will lease you extra hardware to install and test your new Y2K compliant code include CDO and SDS.
A special mention goes to TAVA because they deal with embedded systems-- the computer chips that power just about everything that is automated. TAVA does soup to nuts, i.e. from selling a CD that identifies problem chips to sending a person out to identify and fix them for you.
Yes, there is a lot of crossover on the software side. For example, companies like VIAS have testing, not just remediation tools. But I ws merely trying to sort out the crowd.
I hope this helped someone!
- Jeff |
