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Technology Stocks : Discuss Year 2000 Issues -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (8421)	8/26/1999 10:50:00 AM
From: C.K. Houston	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9818

"Interested observers were scratching their heads over Mary Alice Taylor's abrupt departure last week as head of technology at Citibank. "Either she left or she was forced out-and the signs point to that," says Jonathan Sack, an executive employment lawyer in New York. "I know how Citibank works. If they want to let you go, historically they do so without any warning or notice." If Taylor didn't threaten any kind of claim or suit, she probably wound up with a fair package, Sack says. Citibank isn't as generous as others, but it plays fair; she'll get vesting, salary, and outplacement services, Sack says. Citibank wouldn't comment, and Taylor couldn't be reached." techweb.com Interesting timing. You'd think she'd be getting a bonus, instead of the boot, for getting Citibank's computer systems Y2K compliant. Cheryl 127 Days until 2000

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (8421)	8/28/1999 11:41:00 PM
From: C.K. Houston	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9818

Ron, Remember a week or so or go, we debated (briefly) about what a "small to mid-sized" company was? I used the figure, <1,000. Well ... this is kinda scary. This GartnerGroup report on the FOOD SUPPLY - refers to a "small" enterprise, as one with fewer than 10,000 employees. Unbelievable. This report, prepared for U.S. Department of Agriculture is terrifying. The worst thing I've seen so far. It's dated JULY 2, 1999. So many terrible things in this report about FOOD SUPPLY!! "Most of the companies have completed over 90% of remediation and testing of their corporate MIS applications. But they have completed only 25 percent work on embedded systems and are in different stages of contingency planning." ... .. the larger corporations are better prepared for the Year 2000 than the smaller organizations. Among food service industry leaders, the small enterprises ([with] less than 10,000 employees) have shown comparatively less preparedness for Y2K. *This is a cause for greater concern in the industries where the industry leaders account for only a very small percentage* of the market ... small enterprises ... might face disruptions in their day-day-operations. GartnerGroup research indicates Y2K system failures will occur in highest volumes from 3Q99 through 1Q01 [1st Qtr 2001]*, with highest volume peaks during 4Q99 and 1Q00 through 3Q00, so the companies that are not headed toward the operational sustainability level on the COMPARE scale must direct their efforts toward contingency planning [...] So many bad things in this report. Here's one:* INFANT FOOD: No noticeable improvement during the past three months, but the companies are well under way with their remediation processes. The critical issues (supply chain, embedded systems, contingency planning) are not being addressed by all the major producers. These issues need much greater emphasis [...] "Some industries such as Bread, Fluid Milk and Fresh Vegetables lie in the high severity and high probability quadrant, which highlights the fact that these industries need to put in more efforts than others to achieve operational sustainability. [...] INTERPRETATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS starts out kind of optimistic, but then: "On the darker side, the research shows that the contingency plans developed by the companies shows limited understanding of when IT and supply chain failures will occur. Y2K failures will increase in 3Q99 and continue to increase through year-end 2000. Companies must make contingency plans for the possible failures in 1999 and 2000 [...] Since Y2K system failures will become more common from 3Q99 onward, little or not time remains to conduct risk assesments and develop contingency stragegies [...] usda.gov SELECT: Attachment to the FSWG's Third Quarterly Report: Gartner Group Assessment of the Year 2000 Remediation Status within the Nation's Food Supply (July 2, 1999) SUGGEST YOU PRINT OUT THE ENTIRE REPORT. Compare the GartnerGroup report to what the government put out. It's found on the same link. Totally different tone. I imagine Gartner later had their entire report included as a "CYA". This is the ONLY part of the GartnerGroup's conclusion that the govt included in their report: ============================================================ In its July, 1999 report to the FSWG, Gartner Group concludes: The overall picture of the food supply industry looks encouraging; there has been considerable improvement in Y2K compliance status of the industries. The awareness of the critical issues like contingency planning and mbedded systems compliance has improved. The number of industries with an average "COMPARE" level 3.0 (plan complete and resources committed) or higher has increased remarkably. This increases the confidence that by the fourth quarter of 1999 more than 65 percent [my emphasis] of industries will achieve a "COMPARE" level of 4.0 (key systems are 100 percent compliant and certified, interfaces have been corrected or fire-walled, and key partners have been assessed and certified compliant)." Cheryl