This article appeared in the Australian edition of "Computerworld"
dated Oct 23, 1998 about insurance company Mercantile Mutual choosing Viasoft's "On Mark 2000". The link is
www2.idg.com.au
(EDIT - The link is tooo long to fit on one line so here is the text)
16 October, 1998
Insurer automates desktop testing for Y2K By Ellen Cresswell
Software
SYDNEY
A proliferation of spreadsheet files across almost 2000 PCs led Mercantile Mutual to look at automating its desktop Y2K testing procedures.
Mercantile's deputy general manager corporate services, Michael Goodwin said the organisation's 2000 staff worked mainly on complex spreadsheets that used a two-digit date field.
"With the desktop component representing about 20 per cent of Mercantile Mutual's exposure, we're taking this issue very seriously," Goodwin said.
Mercantile Mutual is testing between 1500 and 2000 PCs for year 2000 compliance as part of its greater Y2K program, which is slated for completion by the end of this year.
Goodwin said instead of manually checking the compliance of each file, the company had purchased desktop tools from Viasoft to reduce testing time. Automating the process also reduces the error margin, he said.
"We researched the market and considered a number of options, looking for a product that could handle the full range of issues on the desktop, including hardware, commercial applications and custom-built spreadsheets and databases," Goodwin said.
"OnMark 2000 Assess pinpoints and correct problems in the PC BIOS and it also identifies potential issues in spreadsheets, databases and data files," he said.
Workbench for Excel provides an impact analysis and resolves Y2K issues in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.
"We then use the more specialised OnMark tools to correct our Excel and Access files," Goodwin said.
"We have a team of 24 people working full-time to assess and remediate any date problems on desktop computers, including around 200 which we plan to acquire between now and December," he said.
Mercantile Mutual has set up a central processing lab to handle most of the software testing and corrections while a separate team handles the hardware issues.
"We've done a complete inventory of all hardware and software and are working with our users to take their spreadsheets off the LAN drives for faster processing and resolution," Goodwin said.
The desktop Y2K project is jointly managed by Mercantile Mutual and IBM GSA, which holds the contract for managing and maintaining the company's desktop environment.
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