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

To: Quad Sevens who wrote (306)	10/22/1997 7:08:00 AM
From: C.K. Houston	Respond to of 9818

Hey Wade, <I'm beginning to distrust anything Yourdon has to say about non-IT y2k issues. Look at:> accsyst.com Give the Yourdon's a break. Remember, the book's still in the draft stage and they're asking for feedback from the internet community. Says so in referenced link. The "article" discussed how management & customer service would respond to corrupted data re billing & termination of service. If you re-read the link .... The author of the article, Rick Cowles, AND the Yourdon's .... BOTH have pretty dismal, though different, scenarios in reaction to the same problem. Rick came up with something NEW which should most likely be included in the Yourdon book. SEE BELOW <So, I don't think Y2K related service terminations are really an issue. What I do see as an issue is the mass chaos in a customer service environment where billing systems, order systems, and the like were impacted by Year 2000 (ie. $357 million electric bill to the little old lady down the block who burns two lightbulbs in the house all month; multiply that by a million people in the service territory; you get my drift). This situation is applicable to ANY industry with significant customer service requirements. And the organizational impact of the chaos, not to mention being able to effectively process accounts receivables, would wear threadbare that industry very quickly.> MORE .... I hope you forwarded the link to Yourdon. We ALL need this book to be as accurate as possible. Cheryl About Rick Cowles, "Editor" of the Utility Web-Site: "I'd like you to know a bit about me so that you can weigh the information on this website against my credentials. I began my career in the commercial electric utility industry in 1980, after serving six years on nuclear submarines in the U.S. Navy. Over the next 17 years, I worked in both the power generation and business ends of the utility industry. I've spent time on the shop floor and in the board room. My IT experience spans that entire timeframe, from System 38 and Tandem NonStop II system operations at the beginning to an SAP implementation at the end. Earlier this year, I accepted an engagement as a Year 2000 Project Manager at a multi-national pharmaceutical company."

To: Quad Sevens who wrote (306)	10/22/1997 2:10:00 PM
From: R. Bond	Respond to of 9818

Wade, I wrote an EMail to the Yourdons when I read Chapter 5. It concerned the following quote: >>You might want to call your Customer Service department to find out; we haven't bothered doing so in New York City, partly because we're not sure we would believe the "official" answer, and partly because we assume that the rules would change in the event of such a Y2000 problem.<< As I told them, I hardly think that this attitude indicates the sort of rigorous approach to research which is maintained by serious authors. Additionally, after residing in Manhattan for 9 years (their home) I can't imagine taking them seriously if they can't get out the door and down to the Con Ed office. This kind of apathy is a joke in the energy capital of the world, N.Y.C. I'm supposed to pay for a book by someone who can't be bothered to pick up the telephone or take a subway ride to check things out? I don't think so. Regards, Bond P.S. I now live in London. Could you possibly send me a flashlight?

To: Quad Sevens who wrote (306)	11/13/1997 8:57:00 PM
From: C.K. Houston	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9818

ALCOA, BP, SHELL-EXXON Y2K: Embedded Systems Problems I am a member of an Energy Industry Y2K SIG (ad hoc) with 19 member companies. Most of us are either pursuing or starting to pursue inventory and assessment of our field systems. Some results are starting to come in. Thought you might be interested. Four Alcoa Steel Plants * 50% of control systems will fail North Sea Expro (Shell-Exxon JV) * Platform, Pipeline and Gas Plants * 1200 systems identified, 12% failure rate BP Refinery, Grangemouth, UK * 94 systems identified * Couldn't find vendor for 20 * 74 assessed * 3 will fail, 2 will cause shutdown Jay Abshier, Mgr - Corporate Year 2000 Office Texaco Inc, Bellaire, Texas The above information was presented at the November meeting of the Engrgy Industry Y2K SIG, and and passed on to us by Jay Abshier, Manager of the Corporate Year 2000 Office at Texaco Inc. Best wishes, Leon Kappelman Excerpt from forwarded message _____________________________________________________________________ The above just appeared on comp.software.year-2000 Date: Wed, 12 Nov 1997 10:19:52 -0600 From: "Leon Kappelman" <kapp@unt.edu> Contributed by: Wade Ramey