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

To: Michael Block who wrote (13024)	10/7/1998 2:07:00 PM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13949

Here's the Gartner Group Press Release: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Carol Wallace GartnerGroup 203-316-3575 carol.wallace@gartner.com Senate Hosts GartnerGroup To Advise on How to Mitigate U.S. Effects of Year 2000 Senate Special Committee Gets Sneak Peak At GartnerGroup Symposium Research Washington DC, October 7, 1998... Speaking at the invitation of the Senate's Special Committee on Year 2000 Technology Problems, GartnerGroup Research Director Lou Marcoccio provided an advance look at research which will be presented at GartnerGroup's Symposium/ITxpo 98 in Orlando next week. A full copy of his testimony is available online at www.gartner.com. Mr. Marcoccio's testimony is also being broadcast live over the CSPAN network at 9:30 am today (Wednesday, October 7). In his testimony, Mr. Marcoccio reinforced GartnerGroup's earlier estimates that the total cost of Year 2000-related IT costs worldwide would range from $300 billion to 600 billion worldwide. U.S. IT costs are expected to account for $150-$225 billion of that figure. In response to the Senate's invitation, Mr. Marcoccio is presenting the Special Committee with six recommended steps the Federal government could take to help mitigate the effects of Year 2000 computing problems in the U.S. and elsewhere. 1. A single current federal agency should be identified as the Global Risk Management Agency, and chartered with managing and coordinating global impact of Year 2000 problems in the U.S. This would include regular analysis of economic, financial, monetary, military, political and other resources. This agency should report directly to the Executive Office, and have immediate access to the President's Cabinet. 2. The federal government should coordinate efforts with state and local governments, to provide special government aid and information for local cities and towns. Currently, local activities and towns are lagging far behind the federal government, and interfaces between levels of government are at risk. 3. Legislation should be passed, or the SEC should be required to implement random audits as part of the Year 2000 disclosure process. Sample audits should be conducted by an outside agency to confirm these findings. This is needed because most companies are not providing accurate disclosures today. 4. Government agencies should adapt their contingency plans to reflect that Year 2000 failures will not occur over a single day or week, but will be spread out over a three-year period, occurring heavily from 1999 to 2001. 5. All new legislation should be questioned, to determine if it may require IT modifications. Modifications being required by new federal requirements are one major factor making it more difficult for companies to focus on Year 2000 mitigation. Bills such as this should be put on hold for an extended time, to allow companies and agencies to focus on Year 2000 compliance. 6. The U.S. government is already focusing on two areas: IT systems within federal agencies and launching legislation to support compliance in critical industries. The federal government should add to this a third focus: managing global dependencies and risks. Substantial contingency efforts should be launched in order to reduce this type of risk. About GartnerGroup As the world's leading authority on IT, GartnerGroup provides clients with a wide range of products and services in the areas of IT advisory services, measurement, research, decision support, analysis and consulting. Founded in 1979, with headquarters in Stamford, Conn., GartnerGroup is at the center of a global community of more than 11,000 client organizations served by analysts in 80 locations worldwide. GartnerGroup's unique capabilities and resources help bring clarity to the direction of the world's hottest and most volatile industry. ===== Here's a link to the actual report on their web site... worth checking out: gartner4.gartnerweb.com - Jeff

To: Michael Block who wrote (13024)	10/7/1998 6:24:00 PM
From: Tech Master	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 13949

Michael- Testimonials from the field: Thanks to Norma for coming out of the closet <ggg> ****************************************************************** Talk : Year 2000 : Alydaar: Year 2000 (Y2K) Remediation; Audit; Reengineering \| Previous \| Next \| Respond \| To: Jack McKibben (8012 ) From: Norma Wednesday, Oct 7 1998 10:47AM ET Reply # of 8058 Jack, I can't answer most of your questions, but I can tell you about Alydaar. I am the Year 2000 Project Manager for a large company, and I sent ALL our computer code to ALYD for remediation. I am not allowed to name my company or discuss terms of my contract with Alydaar. However, since I recently sent ALYD the last (big) check, I feel I can come out of the closet to a certain extent. If my company fires me for posting, I guess I will be forced to go work as a contract COBOL programmer making twice what I make now. LOL! My team is currently in the final stages of testing, therefore I can't swear everything is fine yet, but so far, so good. I have no doubt we will meet our December 31, 1998, deadline for complete Y2K compliancy. My company sent me to Charlotte to visit Alydaar and report back to them. Alydaar is a large complex with great security. They had the honchos each give me a presentation, but they also allowed me the freedom to interview programmers at random, etc. My overall impression of the Alydaar staff is that they are VERY hard working honest people. They will get an incredible amount of business as soon as the idiots running companies and government agencies wake up and realize they have a problem that MUST be addressed! ANY decision maker from a company or agency who visited Charlotte for the demos, tours, and random interviews with programmers would sign a contract on the spot! When you tell a techie about ALYD, the first thing they do is laugh and say it can't be done. I know, that is how I reacted when I first read about it. Now I know it CAN be done and, furthermore, will probably be done BETTER than tired, overworked programmers would do it on site! Alydaar has the added advantage that it is now TOO LATE for any sizable amount of computer code to be changed manually and still meet the deadline. Jack, I know the market stinks big time, but surely the institutions will come to their senses and put money in a business that is about to explode. Norma ******************************************************************* Talk : Year 2000 : Alydaar: Year 2000 (Y2K) Remediation; Audit; Reengineering \| Previous \| Next \| Respond \| To: solution (8010 ) From: Norma Wednesday, Oct 7 1998 9:32AM ET Reply # of 8058 Hmmmmmm... In my opinion, ALYD's factory solution is one of the FEW options available to companies/government entities that can actually ensure Y2K compliancy within the next 15 months. I still believe all Y2K companies will have all the work they can handle during the ensuing crisis. However, there is a big difference between being inundated with work and actually delivering the expected results. Alydaar delivers. In my opinion, ALYD will be able to name their price as the next year progresses.