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

To: John Mansfield who wrote (1780)	5/12/1998 4:59:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Respond to of 9818

[GARTNER] 'We are afraid that there just will not be enough talent and resources available' '.... In each case, as these companies hit their Time Horizon to Failure (THF), normal operations were interrupted and the resources of the enterprise were thrown in to fight the problem in a crisis mode. Most have handled these year 2000 problems successfully and have done nothing more than create a small ripple through the economic structure of the company. What worries us at the Gartner Group is that as we approach New Year's Eve 1999, more and more companies will hit their Time Horizon to Failure on more and more different applications. As result, more and more business functions within each enterprise will be negatively impacted and need to be dealt with in a crisis mode. We are afraid that there just will not be enough talent and resources available, given the amount of time left, to handle all of the potential failures in a timely fashion. As a result, companies could lose the ability to process invoices, issue payroll checks, or collect taxes for an unpredictable amount of time as they wrestle with each system failure. ... our research indicates that governmental agencies in the United States -- state, local, and federal -- are generally at about 15 percent complete in their year 2000 projects, which would place them on the threshold of entering Level Three on the COMPARE Scale. There are, of course, some agencies further along than others, however the majority are still far behind in their work. Link: house.gov

To: John Mansfield who wrote (1780)	5/12/1998 7:41:00 PM
From: Dusty	Respond to of 9818

Comptroller General testified that "If IRS is unable to make its mission critical systems Year 2000 compliant, IRS could be rendered unable to properly process tax returns, issue refunds, correctly calculate interest and penalties, effectively collect taxes, or prepare accurate financial statements and other financial reports." NOW, folks I find this real heart warming...LOL Let them lose me, I would be a happy camper to donate one years refund just to get "lost" This is just like all the other Government crap. Nothing but lip service and maybe a little smoke and mirrors thrown in for good measure. Let the socialist system go down in flames. It is long over due. The worst case scenario is we would be taking care of our aged parents; as to the lazy relatives, we would likely help them find work real fast. The disabled could be cared for by the religious community; now that's a switch... They could do something besides spend money on glass cathedrals. Hummm, maybe they could learn the true meaning of charity instead of increasing the bottom line. This is not true of ALL but certainly far too many of today's modern churches. Let's start over see if we can get it right... Dusty :o)

To: John Mansfield who wrote (1780)	5/13/1998 4:27:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9818

[EXECUTIVE ORDER] ' ... On October 3rd, California governor Pete Wilson issued an executive order calling for a moratorium on new IT development in the state, until the various state agencies can make their existing systems Y2K-compliant (which they somehow have to do with "existing resources" !?!). Unfortunately, we didn't happen to see this item until after Time Bomb 2000 went into production, so it's not in the book. It turns out that New York governor Pataki issued a similar executive order on July 2nd; you can find it at the New York Y2K Web site. It's not clear whether this has helped much: as of Nov 20, 1997, NY State Comptroller Carl McCall issued a report indictating that zero of 81 state agencies had finished their Y2K compliance studies. (By the way, if multiple states and the Federal government impose this kind of moratorium, imagine what impact it will have on high-tech companies like IBM and Microsoft. We foresee an even larger aspect of this in 1998, as private companies also impose a moratorium on new IT work until they get their Y2K work finished. This could ultimately have an impact on the stock market and the job market for the high-tech sector.) yourdon.com

To: John Mansfield who wrote (1780)	5/15/1998 9:37:00 AM
From: Joseph E. McIsaac	Respond to of 9818

<<At the hearing, the FED official stated that U.S. businesses have reported that they expect to spend $50 billion correcting their computers for the Year 2000 Problem, and that estimate is expected to rise. >> I don't recall the Federal Reserve press release on this estimate indicating this built-in fudge factor! HOWEVER, I think that many people (including myself) believe that a lot of companies are "low-balling" their estimates in their SEC 10K filings, either knowingly or unknowingly. For example, CitiGroup (CitiCorp) estimated their entire Y2K effort to be "only" $600m. Even this startlingly large sum does not (if I recall correctly) include dime one for Y2K expense AFTER Jan 1, 2000, for legal fees, nor for disaster plan contingency execution. The CitiGroup estimate is 1.2% of the ENTIRE Federal Reserve estimate of $50 billion. If 1 business, however large, is estimating its own cost to be 1.2% of the Fed estimate, and doesn't that make the Fed estimate seem suspiciously low, considering how many other firms exist in America? BTW, and not merely, but certainly with an eye for, concerns of liability, CitiGroup is one of the most sophisticated, responsible, and pro active companies on Year 2000 issues anywhere on the planet. Hats off to them for taking the Year 2000 as seriously as they have, I think that they will ultimately benefit greatly by their efforts (especially in Japan).