a practical solution for applications that requireorganization around dates - what if an operator forgot to enter the datesome Monday morning?The software patches to hardware are a "quick fix", that will require ahardware (firmware) upgrade. The market for such BIOS chips is sure togrow exponentially fast after 2000 has passed given the millions ofthese machines in service. IBM PC's manufactured before 1996 (all) willhave this problem. IBM has since promised that all machines shippedafter 1996 will function properly after 2000. Hardly the ideal solution.(Jan 1996 Datamation article by Joe Celko)The System is the Solution: Solving the 2000 ProblemFor most companies, the solution will involve a combination of the abovestrategies. How they will be implemented, and whether or not they willbe in-house, contracted or some combination thereof will dictate acompanies year 2000 strategy.Assess & IdentifyThe first problem facing the IT manager in charge of developing astrategy to have their company undergo a smooth transition past 2000 isto determine what their problem is. How much of their software will beaffected? What will be the consequences if no action is taken to resolvethe problem? Is their centralized database software capable of thechange? What about client applications?These are only some of the questions that must be answered. Once areasonable estimate of the scope of the problem that must be dealt withhas been obtained, an assessment of the problem can then be made.Specifically: Is it cheaper to repair or replace the system?There are several factors that must be considered here. If you aredealing with a mainframe computer, is the source code still available,and if so, is there a supported compiler that does not suffer from anyinherent 2000 problems? If this is the case, do you have the people thatcan modify the code in house, or if not, do you know that adequate humanresources can be found?An analysis of the expenditures and benefi...
