This is a news story I happened to see on Hewlett Packard. It looks to me as we will see plenty of hype again. The claim in the story of just not enough programmers to complete the job.
Recommends Data Dimensions Consulting and Services for Year 2000
Software Problem
PR Newswire, Tuesday, January 28, 1997 at 10:49
BELLEVUE, Wash., Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Data Dimensions, Inc.
(Nasdaq: DDIM), announced today an agreement with Hewlett-Packard Company
(NYSE: HWP) in which it will provide consulting and services for solving Year
2000 software problems for Hewlett-Packard's international base of clients.
Larry Martin, Chairman and CEO of Data Dimensions, said, "Hewlett-
Packard's endorsement is further testimony that corporate America recognizes
the efficiency and effectiveness of our solution to the Year 2000 problem."
The Hewlett Packard framework for solving the Year 2000 problem is laid
out in a white paper and sales guide for its worldwide base of clients.
The millennium -- or Year 2000 -- problem arises from the widespread use
of computer programs that rely on two digit date codes to perform computations
and decision-making functions. Many of these computer programs may fail due
to an inability to properly interpret date codes. For example, programs may
misinterpret "00" as the year 1900, rather than 2000.
The Gartner Group estimates that the cost to fix the Year 2000 problem
worldwide could reach $600 billion.
"There is no simple fix or magic bullet to the millennium problem, since
dates are encoded in hardware, software and even in computer chips. There is
not enough third party consultant manpower in the world to fix the problem by
the year 2000," Martin said.
Headquartered in Bellevue, WA, Data Dimensions, Inc. provides high
quality, knowledge-based and tool assisted millennium consulting services
based on the Company's proprietary business processes. Data Dimensions has
provided Year 2000 consulting services for more than 160 organizations
worldwide, including more than two dozen of the U.S. Fortune 500. Data
Dimensions has also signed major marketing and licensing agreements with such
pre-eminent domestic computer services providers as Unisys Federal Systems and
Ascent Logic Corporation. |
