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Technology Stocks : Y2K (Year 2000) Stocks: An Investment Discussion -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bob who wrote (12878)	9/16/1998 1:45:00 PM
From: paul e thomas	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13949

POST 2000 PROSPECTS FOR IT PROVIDERS There is an excellent article in The New America Section of todays IBD that discusses the business prospects for IMRS and other Year 2000 service providers beyond the year 2000. The story shows a graph from Dataquest which shows that y2k total spending was about 60 billion $ in 1997 and will rise nearly 50% in 1998.They forecast it will drop about 10% in 1999 and will drop just over another 50% in 2000.The article paints a very positive picture of the future for IMRS and cites that their current backlog is 3/4 non y2k work versus 1/2 of their current revenue rate.A Montgomery Securities analyst projects IMRS revenue in 1998 will grow to 150mm$ in 1998.IDTC expects that total IMRS revenue will reach 222MM$ by 2002.The article cites IMRS access to low cost labor in INDIA and Northern Ireland.It is building sites in Australia,Eastern Europe and the Philipines.The article makes it clear they believe that all Y2K service providers will find business opportunities from Y2K clients in application development,integration and maintaing IT systems.The article says there are a number of business drivers that are encouraging the use of external IT service providers.Companies are focusing on their core competencies while leaving systems work to outsiders .Also reapid changes in technology are forcing non technical firms to seek help from outside experts. Nearly all the Y2k service providers are forecast to grow earnings at a long term growth rate of 35% or more.

To: bob who wrote (12878)	9/16/1998 11:46:00 PM
From: bob	Respond to of 13949

U.S. Chip Companies Hail Legislative Compromise on Year 2000 Disclosure Issues; Measure Will Enable Companies to Share Information to Solve Technical Y2K Bugs SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. chip companies today endorsed a compromise legislative plan for handling Year 2000 disclosure issues that encourages businesses to share vital problem-solving information about Y2K bugs, the Semiconductor Industry Association announced. The bill enables companies to disclose technical information about solutions for Y2K bugs without having to fear that they will get sued for doing so. The measure provides liability protection for statements made in good faith by companies as they try to address the technical problems posed by Y2K. In a letter to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the SIA and 39 other business groups urged Congress and the Administration to approve the measure before Congress adjourns. "We believe this bill ... will enhance Year 2000 information exchange to help improve our nation's Y2K readiness," the letter said. "To remediate potential Year 2000 problems in the brief time remaining, it is vitally important that this compromise proposal be adopted by the Senate and House, and signed into law, in the next few weeks." The compromise plan was announced today by Hatch and a bipartisan group of Senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee. It was immediately endorsed by John A. Koskinen, who chairs the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion. Numerous technology groups, including Sematech, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International, and the Technology Network, joined the SIA in praising the compromise. "This compromise is a major accomplishment," said SIA President George Scalise. "We are hopeful that the House, the Senate and the Administration will continue to work together in a bipartisan fashion to make sure this 'Good Samaritan' bill becomes law in 1998." The measure, S.2329, is comparable in concept to a House bill sponsored by Reps. David Dreier (R-CA) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA). The Hatch bill is tentatively scheduled to be taken up by the full Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. "The Y2K problem is a global challenge," Koskinen said. "To increase their chances of overcoming the problem, organizations must be able to exchange information about their experiences with products, their system fixes, testing protocols, and test results. For those just getting started on their Year 2000 efforts around the world, this information may mean the difference between the success or failure of systems on January 1, 2000." "It is clear that Congress cannot legislate a solution to Y2K," added Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah), a cosponsor of the Senate bill. "But Congress can give industry the tools they need to share Y2K information -- technical information that is critical to solving Y2K problems. Without question, this legislative compromise is essential to the continued economic well being and security of our nation." SOURCE Semiconductor Industry Association