December 13, 1999

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The Brighter Side Of The Y2K Problem
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Lessons Learned from Y2K Not Just Another New Year's Eve...

"We already have quite a bit of work waiting for us, and there are new projects we're biting at the bit to do," he says, such as an upgrade to the hospital personnel information system.

But Y2K hasn't been the unit's sole focus in the past two years, he says. His staff is readying the rollout of an online clinical information delivery system that will let doctors access all patient data from various departments at the same time.

Although Carondelet's remediation entailed mostly upgrades and involved little IT housecleaning, analysts say the reverse scenario is more prevalent.

PricewaterhouseCoopers' Burke and Giga's Isfahani say a benefit of Y2K work has been the exposure of antiquated and obsolete systems, duplicate or undocumented processes, weak security systems, and lack of backup plans for critical data.

"Many companies are realizing that they now have, for the first time, a comprehensive inventory of the IT systems," Burke says. "The smart ones are putting mechanisms in place to maintain that inventory as the beginning of truly understanding and leveraging IT assets."

Y2K remediation, however, hasn't had a huge impact on IT infrastructure at all companies. Some IT managers say they've been fortunate to have first-rate attention from business management for many years and the necessary funding to keep IT systems updated, so Y2K projects didn't prompt any big changes.

Take, for example, Atlas Van Lines Inc., where Y2K compliancy hasn't borne any particular benefits. The Evansville, Ind., transporter began Y2K work nearly five years ago, and pretty much had its IT house in order all along, says Dick Arneson, VP of MIS. The remediation project didn't require a special budget line or outside help, he says.

Office Depot Inc. has had a similar experience regarding Y2K's impact. The $12 billion retailer in Delray Beach, Fla., met its compliance goals in December 1998, says CIO Bill Seltzer.

Office Depot appointed a full-time Y2K project manager and established an in-house team, with a few contractors included in the mix. The company's 190 in-house developers did the majority of the work, Seltzer says.

From the start, Seltzer kept the CEO and other top business managers informed through weekly meetings and monthly board of directors meetings. But that wasn't unusual, he says. "IT is very integrated within the enterprise," he says. "We already had a strong relationship with the CEO and were already in the limelight." For example, IT investments have helped Office Depot cut distribution costs to 1% of its total sales, compared with 2% five years ago, Seltzer says.

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Photo of Arneson by Steven Eschner

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