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

To: C.K. Houston who wrote (396)	11/10/1997 11:46:00 AM
From: Done, gone.	Respond to of 9818

Y2k press clippings: US News and World Report: "The currency change in Europe could cost U.S. firms billions": usnews.com Quote: "Even before it is introduced on Jan. 1, 1999, the long-awaited euro threatens to cost American business $30 billion or more to buy new software and recode old programs, as companies with interests on the other side of the Atlantic attempt to adapt to the new currency. No later than Dec. 31, 1998, people doing business in Europe will have to rewrite their computer software to handle three different base currencies at once. InformationWeek: "Look Beyond Year 2000 -- Immersion in millennium work can save the day but kill a career. Find time to keep your team up to date on technology": techweb.com Quopte:"Outsource as much of your year 2000 problem as possible. Put teams to work on new technology-even if it turns into after-hours work." InformationWeek: "Year 2000:No Small Job -- Small and midsize companies struggle to get their code ready for the new century": techweb.com Quote: "The millennium bug is difficult enough for large companies with deep pockets, large IT staffs, and direct lines of communication to the big vendors. It's even more pernicious for smaller businesses, with far less money, personnel, and influence. A recent Gartner Group study found that nearly one-third of companies surveyed worldwide -most with fewer than 2,000 employees-have not yet started to deal with the year 2000 problem." InformationWeek: "Banks Bracing For Year 2000": techweb.com Quote: "How serious is the problem for the banking industry? According to surveys conducted by Gartner Group Inc., although U.S. banks have completed 30% of their compliance efforts, "they have a probability of 10% system failure," says Lou Marcoccio, director of year 2000 research at Gartner. Part of the problem:Surveys of vendor compliance efforts are rarely accurate because most vendors "don't know what they don't know," says Marcoccio." InternetWeek: "Year 2000 Quirks Will Hit Us Slowly": techweb.com Quote: "Of course, there are lots of people who worry about the problem with computer systems when the year 2000 comes. Mostly, they are IT managers who are tasked with solving the "Millennium Bug." Unfortunately, most business managers don't worry about it at all, and in fact refuse to allocate resources to solving the problem. They'll worry about it when it happens, but right now, they're too busy making money." InternetWeek: "Is Network Gear Y2K Vulnerable? You Bet --Devices built before 1996 pose greatest threat; integrator aims to help users quantify problem.": techweb.com Quote: "Many network devices made before 1996-including bridges, routers, gateways, multiplexers, DNS and E-mail servers-are in serious danger of stumbling over the Year 2000 date glitch that is affecting mainframes and other legacy systems, experts last week said." InternetWeek: "NCR, AT&T Do Y2K": techweb.com Quote: "They may be separate companies now but they still work together. AT&T two weeks ago contracted with NCR Corp. (www.ncr.com) to assess, repair and test AT&T's systems for Year 2000 compliance. The goal of the contract is to resolve all of AT&T's Year 2000-related problems by the end of 1998. Exact terms of the multimillion-dollar contract were not disclosed." Fortune: "The Spirit is Willing." pathfinder.com Quote: "In the year 2000," he replied, "there will be a disaster like none the earth has ever seen. Computers will crash when they fail to recognize the turn of the clock at midnight! Elevators will tumble! The earth as we know it will grind to a halt!" NZ InfoTech Weekly: "Year 2000 books published.": infotech.co.nz Quote: "Howard Woolston, a business, financial and information technology consultant, launched a book in September called the Millennium Bug, while senior consultant at Azimuth Consulting, John Good, launched A Survivor's Guide to the Year 2000 Problem a couple of weeks ago. " The New York Post: "The Millennium Bug - And The Lawyers.": nypostonline.com Quote: "Plaintiff's lawyers plan to celebrate the millennium in a big, and profitable, way - with the mother of all class-action suits. And experts say this could make the litigation over breast implants and asbestos look like chump-change wrangling." USA Today: "Putting a price on the year 2000 glitch.": usatoday.com Quote: "Lawmakers stress that is why the cost of fixing the flaw - dubbed the millennium bug or Y2K by computer geeks - should be known before investors buy or hold a stock. ... Companies that are not candid about the costs may end up paying more if lawyers have to be hired to fend off shareholder lawsuits or to sue vendors for software that malfunctions." Evil news rides post, while good news baits. --Milton. Bounced Czech (FBN - Ride!)

To: C.K. Houston who wrote (396)	11/10/1997 11:55:00 AM
From: C.K. Houston	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9818

ELECTRIC UTILITIES & Y2K WEB SITE ============================================================== MUST Read - An Open Letter to Utilitity Industry (Excerpts): The "party line" of the industry remains: everything's OK, this isn't a big deal, we'll get it fixed. However, everyone I've personally interviewed in the industry who is knowledgable about Y2K, and who will speak off the record, is scared to death. Words like "5 alarm panic", and "not a snowball's chance in hll" come immediately to mind. I've spoken to industry leaders who are buying generators, for God's sake .... WHY? Do they know something that the rest of the world does not?* Over the past year, I've spent a lot of time researching and writing about the status of the electric utility industry's Year 2000 compliance efforts. Much of the information presented on this website has been gathered from personal interviews or correspondence with various industry insiders, industry working groups, regulatory bodies, and other Y2K specialists ... My time in the industry introduced me to many fine individuals, from meter readers and service technicians, to nuclear control operators and CEO's. *MORE....* Written By: Rick Cowles (rcowles@waterw.com) accsyst.com ================================================================== UTILITIES & EMBEDDED CONTROLS accsyst.com Within a typical electric utility, embedded logic control is prevalent in every facet of operation; from load dispatch and remote switchyard breaker control to nuclear power plant safety systems and fossil plant boiler control systems. Whole generating units (generally, gas turbines)are controlled from miles away by personnel adjusting system loads in response to peak demands. Embedded logic control is the dirty little Y2K secret of all production facilities (manufacturing and utilities) that has the most significant potential to bring whole companies to their knees. Embedded logic is really the wildcard in the whole Y2K scheme of things for any industry where process control is utilized. No one knows or can even guess how much embedded control has the potential for failure on 01/01/2000. And even if all non-compliant embedded logic and controls were identified in every industrial process that used them, there's absolutely no assurance that the controls industry or chip manufacturers would be able to meet demands for upgrades or replacements. Even getting support from the vendor who installed your system(s) is going to be a crapshoot......... Written By: Rick Cowles __________________________________________________________________ John Catterall is the Y2K Program Manger for Western Power. In an early November, 1997 letter, he expressed a tremendous amount of concern with the Y2K embedded controls issue within his company. Here's an excerpt from the letter: "Automated systems are indeed widespread throughout power utilities. Exposure to the industry would in my opinion rate as extreme. *At Western Power, our IT compliance project (cost around $3 million and employing 35 Full time employees) is trivial in comparison to the issues we face on the control and embedded systems front."* ____________________________________________________________________ *Pop Quiz (and maybe a future case history):* A major electric company spends lots of time and money fixing their mainframe computers, internal LAN's, customer service systems, and purchasing systems to make sure these systems are Y2K ready. This electric company was absolutely certain they were ready for the century change. However, in the days following 01/0/2000, this company finds its power delivery infrastructure quickly collapsing. Distribution systems fail, generating stations trip offline, and dispatch systems cease to function. Explain: With all of the advance preparations this apparently proactive company undertook, how did this happen? *Answer:* They failed to consider embedded logic exposures during the course of their Y2K program.