Internet Beat

Barbra Peterson

YEAR 2000 PROBLEM - Part 1

What is the year 2000 problem (Y2K)? Why is it important? What will happen? Will it really be as devastating as everyone says? Should you take your money out of the bank? What are they talking about when they say Y2K? Well let's examine what's happening here. According to the Small Business Association:

"The year 2000 problem started decades ago when early computers had very limited memory and storage space. Programmers saved space where they could by storing the absolute minimum amount of data necessary for business functions. One place they saved space was the date, in which years were represented by their last two digits. So, 1946 was represented and stored as 46, 1967 was stored as 67, and so forth."

"Reducing years to two digits works well as long as the century does not change. As the next century approaches, however, computers that still maintain years as two digits may not recognize that the year 2000 is greater than the previous year. Although a computer may recognize that 99 is greater than 98 (as in 1999 and 1998), it may not recognize that 00 is greater than 99 (as in 2000 and 1999) and may consider it 1900. "

Why is it so important?

"Data processing systems" used in all types of businesses rely heavily on dates and date processing. If the computer code does not recognize that one date is greater than another, it may not be able to process properly and may produce erroneous results. For example, if a loan is entered into a program with a start date of 1998 and a payoff date of 2005 (98 and 05), the program may subtract 98 from 05 resulting in a term of -93 years, rather than 7 years. This problem may put a business (and individuals) at risk because it could effect its cash flow, inventory, taxes, interest calculations, financial forecasting, customer relations, and many other areas."

How big is the problem?

The best way to asses this question is to look at what is affected: manufacturing control systems; telecommunications; money transfer and other financial systems; gas, water, and electrical utilities; stock markets; transportation; national defense; home computers, security systems, and appliances.

Most banks, stock exchanges, corporations, government entities and others are actively working on the Y2K problem. Many systems have been tested and are ready. However, all are not currently up to speed.

The biggest problem lies not with large companies-it is with smaller business. Many do not have the time, resources, or (depending on the type of business), knowledge to fix this problem. Beyond your own systems, there is also a "supply chain." You buy goods and services from businesses. If the people you do business with fail, your cash flow can suffer critically.

You cannot jut sit idly by and wait for the problem to fix itself. If for instance you have a business and do nothing, your business may fail. Worse, because the year 2000 problem is a foreseeable problem, the officers and directors of your organization could be held personally liable in shareholder suits.

ALL is not hopeless whether you are a business or a casual computer user there are steps you can take to ensure you are ready for the millennium.

The SBA recommends the following assessment, test and helpful web sites for information. Although it is geared towards businesses, it is a good idea to adapt some of these steps in your home, too:

Some questions to help assess system readiness

1. Can the system perform projections through time? For example, can it calculate interest or payments or make inventory projections?

2. Does the system allow for entering dates? If yes, is the year 2 or 4 digits? What happens if you enter "00" or "01?"

3. Will the system operate differently depending on the day of the week? Will it operate differently at month-end, quarter-end, or year-end?

4. Can the system put things in order by date?

5. Does the system allow you to retrieve things by date?

6. Can the system perform date-based calculations?

7. Does the system have a security feature that includes date checking?

USEFUL INTERNET SITES FOR Y2K:

The Internet has thousands of web sites dedicated to the year 2000 problem. Many sites have links to sources of freeware, planning tools, discussion groups, and so forth.

Here is a short list of useful Web sites.

http://www.sba.gov - The Small Business Association's Web site - very extensive Y2K article and complete checklist.

http://www.year2000.com - Peter de Jager's Web site - a good source of links to other sites

http://www.compinfo.co.uk/y2k/manufpos.htm - contains links to computer manufacturer's home pages where you can find Year 2000 compliance information

http://www.nstl.com/html/nstl_y2k.html - Y2K problem detection tools for the PCs.

Barbra Peterson is owner/manager of JPC Services, Inc. She can be reached at 372 2355 or 1-888-447-2355; bpeterso@jpc01.jpcservices.com or http://www.jpcservices.com.

Part 2 of this article will offer step by step directions on how to check a personal computer for year 2000 readiness.

To contribute to the Internet Beat column, contact column coordinator Gloria R. Rivera at riverag@connecti.com; 303-4764; http://www.seguin.net. Due to the flood that impacted the column coordinator, the present article originally scheduled for publication on November 1, waited in cyberspace until now.