InformationWeek

July 19, 1999

Chase Manhattan Is Ready For Anything

Illustration by Doug Panton t Chase Manhattan Bank, which started remediation four years ago and is well ahead of federal planning guidelines, IT managers are optimistic that computer systems and business processes will be unaffected by the date change. But the company isn't resting. To prepare for unexpected glitches, Chase has its contingency plans well in hand.

Steve Sheinheit, Chase's executive VP of corporate systems and architecture, says the bank has a number of contingency and continuity plans in place. "These encompass formally drawn plans for each business unit--almost 2,000 individual plans in all," he says. Chase has been proactive when it comes to contingency planning: Senior continuity coordinators and their staffs have been planning since the beginning of the year, Sheinheit says.

Chase's contingency plans cover everything from customer transactions to how Chase will maintain power and other critical services if municipal agencies stop functioning in the dawning moments of the new year. The bank, for example, has set up communications with local telephone companies, power authorities, fire departments, and others. "We're on their radio band so we can receive critical emergency information and provide it if necessary. We also have backup power generators," says Sheinheit.

Chase is also looking at alternative processing sites for paper records and determining if records should be generated, then taken off-site and stored. Credit-card units will provide alternative mechanisms through outside providers so that approvals can continue to be processed no matter what happens. Chase's Funds Transfer unit has set up alternative transaction methods using telex or fax should customers not be able to communicate using Swift, the bank's international funds-transfer network.

Customer call centers will be more heavily manned because the bank anticipates that calls from customers seeking reassurance and information about the safety of their funds will increase as the New Year nears. Chase will also establish Y2K command centers beginning Dec. 27 and ramping up to full capacity by Dec. 30.

While IT employees and business-unit managers will be on hand around-the-clock to monitor Chase's systems, on-call staff for backup support is already designated for the last week of December. Chase has booked hotel rooms near its New York headquarters in anticipation of staff working overtime.

The way the world turns may also be an advantage, says Sheinheit. "We'll watch what happens as midnight comes to our different locations around the world, so we'll know before midnight comes to the United States what to expect."

Return to main story, "Homestretch."

Illustration by Doug Panton

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