InformationWeek

May 10, 1999

Y2K Under Control

By spending tens of billions of dollars, IT organizations think they have the year 2000 issue in hand

By Bruce Caldwell

Related links:

Keep The Bite In Y2K Laws

Year 2000: Worth Complaining About?

Year 2000 Resource Center

And from our sister publications:

PlanetIT Year 2000 Technology Center

TechWeb Year 2000 Approaches

InternetWeek Y2K Tests Put Financial Firms In Hot Seat

The Y2K Package:

Y2K Under Control

Financial Services

Transportation

Government

Telecom

Utilities

ill Jan. 1, 2000, wreak havoc with corporate IT systems--or merely cause a hiccup in business as usual? There seems to be a growing consensus among IT managers and other experts that year 2000 computer problems at most major U.S. businesses will be nothing more than minor annoyances that can be easily managed. The caveat: Those businesses don't exist in a vacuum, and potential problems still lurk.

New evidence supports this increasingly optimistic forecast. While pockets of uncertainty around the globe still exist and work remains for most companies, the vast majority of U.S. businesses have completed nearly all year 2000 remediation work. In addition, a substantial number of companies and industries have carried out tests and weathered Y2K glitches. Based on these factors, an upbeat appraisal of businesses' ability to manage the year 2000 problem is emerging.

To check on the positive mood, reflected in several recent federal studies as well as in reports by J.P. Morgan and Forrester Research, InformationWeek Research surveyed 240 IT professionals in six industries: financial services, health care, noncomputer manufacturing, telecommunications, transportation, and utilities. With 24% reporting that their year 2000 projects are complete, confidence that serious problems will be avoided is high. Even so, several experts looking at financial reports filed by large U.S. companies warn some may not have left enough time to complete their Y2K work by year's end.

Only 26% of respondents to the InformationWeek Research survey expect to be left unscathed by Y2K glitches. That's less than the 41% who had no fear in a similar poll conducted in December. This may be because year 2000 problems, though minor, have struck more companies since then. More than a quarter of respondents reported experiencing Y2K glitches. On average, the severity of the problems was rated as mild, and the majority were fixed in less than a day.

bar chart

Y2K confidence in basic infrastructure industries is high. Respondents rated financial services, hardware and software vendors, utilities, and telecom carriers at better than 8 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 as the highest level of confidence. Transportation, noncomputer manufacturing, and health care fared worse with ratings around 7, while government brought up the rear with grades around 6.