Friday November 15 1:32 PM EDT
Year 2000: End Of The Millennium, Not End Of The World: Idc Survey Shows No Overwhelming Sense Of Concern For The Year 2000 Problem; Solutions In Progress
FRAMINGHAM, Mass., Nov. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- New research findings, released today from International Data Corporation (IDC), seriously challenge predictions that a large number of companies will miss the critical date for resolving the Year 2000 problem.
IDC's survey of 503 top executives and year 2000 project managers indicates executives have addressed the year 2000 problem and are well on their way to resolving it. Nearly three out of four companies have undertaken or planned projects while just one out of 15 companies (or seven percent) have not yet addressed the problem.
"All the hype we have seen in the press concerning the many companies that are still unaware of the problem just doesn't stand up in light of these results," said Thomas Oleson, IDC research director.
Perhaps this is best explained by the fact that 73 percent of the CEOs, 71 percent of the CFOs and 87 percent of the CIOs surveyed indicated they have a strategy in place to address the problem. The details asked of the CIOs revealed a surprisingly high 21.6 percent have either completed renovation or required no renovation. An additional 71.3 percent have one or more projects under way.
"All this is very positive, taken as a whole, but the devil's in the details. Certain groups in our survey, such as the communications industry, still face challenges," said Oleson.
Methods Used to Reach Year 2000 Compliance
In implementing approaches to the year 2000 problem, most companies have chosen to break the overall project into multiple pieces and are following multiple strategies. These methods include renovating date portions of existing code, replacing with commercial software, rewriting applications in modern languages, and business process reengineering.
Will Companies Achieve Compliance in Time?
Again, companies are confident in the year 2000 projects in process. Just 2.8 percent of the 250 CIOs surveyed expect to miss the magic 1/1/2000 date. "Here again, this is a much smaller percentage than we have seen in numerous Chicken Little stories," said Oleson. The majority of respondents said they would achieve compliance in 1997 or 1998 -- well before the beginning of the next century.
To validate its findings, IDC measured the confidence level of IS executives in meeting the deadline. Sixty-two percent of executives with active year 2000 projects believed with a 90 percent confidence level they would meet their planned completion date.
Costs, Allocations and Time Frames
While CIOs are confident about project completion dates, they are not so sure about the total cost for the project. Almost two out of three CIOs and CFOs indicated they do not know the total cost of the year 2000 renovation project, with only one quarter of respondents able to give an accurate figure. A significantly larger number were able to quote a range, but this is not surprising in that such a large percentage of expenses fall into 1997 and 1998.
The CIOs and CFOs are sure not only of when these costs will occur but also of where they will be allocated. Seventy percent of the CFOs will budget all year 2000 expenses within the normal IS department budget. The CIO survey results showed a slightly different pattern of allocation, but resulted in 67 percent of the companies charging between 80 percent and 100 percent of the costs to IS.
This allocation could impact other IS projects -- planned or in process. "Clearly, this level of expense will have impact on other
IS plans. The survey results indicate systems development will take the greatest hit, but the pain is being spread pretty evenly
throughout all areas of IS," said Oleson.
Survey Methodology
IDC surveyed 100 Chief Financial Officers, 100 Chief Operating Officers, and 303 Chief Information Officers regarding their
opinions, strategies, and costs associated with the Year 2000 date problem. These executives were selected from companies with $100 million or more of 1995 revenue and represented the investment, banking, insurance, manufacturing, utility, and communications industry segments.
Graphics depicting some of the survey findings are available by contacting Mr. Oleson at 508-935-4602.
About IDC
Headquartered in Framingham, Mass., International Data Corporation provides IT market research and consulting to more than 3,900 high-technology customers around the world. With a global network of 300 analysts in more than 40 countries, IDC is the industry's most comprehensive resource on worldwide IT markets, products, vendors, and geographies.
IDC/LINK, an IDC subsidiary, researches and analyzes the home computing market, leading-edge technologies in telecommunications and new media, and the convergence of computing and consumer electronics.
IDC's World Wide Web site (http://www.idcresearch.com) contains additional company information and recent news releases, and offers full-text searching of recent research. IDC is owned by International Data Group (IDG), the world's leading IT media and research company.
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SOURCE International Data Corporation |
