3Com CEO Eric Benhamou Calls Attention to Small and Medium Business
Year 2000 Compliance; In Keynote to Upside Summit '98, Benhamou
Outlines Threat to Economy of Y2K Bugs
12:27 a.m. Sep 17, 1998 Eastern
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 16, 1998--"Small
and medium size businesses non-compliance with year 2000 issues
presents one of the largest potential threats to our nation's smooth
entry into the next millennium," said 3Com Chairman and CEO Eric
Benhamou in a keynote address today to the Upside Summit '98 in
Washington, D.C. "Appreciation of the Y2K problem within this
constituency is way too low."
The so-called year 2000 problem, or Y2K, arises because many
older computer systems record dates using only the last two digits
of the year. If left uncorrected, such systems could treat the year
2000 as the year 1900, generating errors or system crashes.
"Since all organizations are now inextricably linked through global
data networks, our economic resistance to the millennium bug is
only as strong as the weakest link in the supply chain," said
Benhamou. "While Fortune 500 organizations and the government
have devoted dollars and resources in pursuit of Y2K compliance,
smaller enterprises often have no CIO to ask the right questions."
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, the
approximately 23 million U.S. small businesses create two of every
three new jobs, represent over 99 percent of all employers, and are
responsible for more than half of the nation's technological
innovation.
"Large corporations and the government must integrate and
disseminate best practices to smaller businesses -- we can't leave
them behind or we will all suffer," Benhamou said.
Also, today Reps. David Dreier (R-Los Angeles) and Anna Eshoo
(D-Palo Alto) led a bipartisan group of Members of Congress in
introducing narrowly focused legislation to encourage private-sector
companies to share information relating to possible computer
problems caused by the transition to the year 2000.
"I am very supportive of Reps. Dreier's and Eshoo's bill to
encourage companies to share Y2K-related information," said
Benhamou.
3Com Offers Y2K Assistance
3Com, a leader in providing innovative networking solutions to
small businesses, is communicating its own Y2K progress,
providing a warranty or guarantee of compliance for specific 3Com
network products, and will help customers with year 2000 issues as
they effect an entire network solution.
In addition, 3Com urges businesses to protect their networks from
failure due to Y2K issues by identifying elements within their
network that provide a date function, asking the vendors of any
equipment that is date sensitive to provide Y2K compliance
certification, and upgrading any equipment that is not compliant.
Businesses should also perform integration tests for certain mission
critical applications.
A 3Com Web site, 3com.com,
provides information on the year 2000 status of 3Com products as
well as answers to frequently asked Y2K questions. In addition,
3Com's recent annual report on Form 10-K provides information
on the Y2K risks confronting 3Com and other companies.
About 3Com
3Com Corporation (Nasdaq:COMS) enables individuals and
organizations worldwide to stay more connected by communicating
and sharing information and resources anytime, anywhere. As one
of the world's preeminent suppliers of data, voice and video
communications technology, 3Com has delivered networking
solutions to more than 200 million customers worldwide. The
company provides large enterprise, small and medium enterprise,
carriers and network service providers, and consumers with
comprehensive, innovative information access products and system
solutions for building intelligent, reliable and high performance
local and wide area networks. For further information, visit
3Com's World Wide Web site at 3com.com or the
press site at 3com.com.
Copyright 1998, Business Wire
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