The IT community is spending the last few days of 1999 focusing on the human side of the millennium bug. Managers are making sure IT personnel know where to go and what to do if the worst fears become reality. Companies are assigning staff to be on site and on call, and running drills to fix last-minute procedural problems.

The exercises are proving worthwhile. Chevron Information Technology Co., which provides IT support for Chevron Corp.'s shipping, payroll, and financial accounting, has run three drills since June, when its systems were remediated. The systems proved to be compliant in each drill, but there were problems with how the staff communicated. "Each time, we found there were too many people, so we've trimmed about 10% of the staff with each drill," says Greg Estep, senior Unix analyst working on the Y2K project. He's cautiously optimistic: "We've been through the rollover so many times that we don't anticipate any problems."

Visa International Inc. also has run three Y2K drills, designed to ensure that all staffers are comfortable with their roles and responsibilities for New Year's weekend. The tests brought to light logistical problems, including the arrangement of workstations in the central control room, the need to replace desktop computers with notebooks to reduce the amount of heat generated in the room, and a requirement for cordless telephones to increase staff mobility, says John McCarthy, VP in charge of Visa's Y2K project.

Prudential Insurance Co. of America's three drills have resulted in a high level of confidence in the company's communications and data reporting capabilities, says VP Irene Dec. Like other companies, Prudential is confident in its Y2K remediation, but feels equipped to handle unforeseen problems. "We're confident, but prepared," Dec says. For the past few weeks, Prudential has also been holding global control-center meetings to boost preparedness.

Provided that the right procedures are in place and have been tested, most companies are confident in their abilities to handle whatever the New Year brings. "Everyone acknowledges that you can't fix all areas of your systems ahead of time, and you have to have procedures in place to deal with problems," says Lynn Edelson, Americas leader for the Operational and Systems Risk Management Group of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The businesses have made great strides to prepare for Y2K, but there may be pockets of concern in other areas. The U.S. government recently warned that several states, including Alabama, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota, and Oklahoma, remain at risk in the areas of welfare, health care, and other federally funded programs-possibly jeopardizing assistance for millions of Americans using these services. Banks, power plants, and hospitals in other parts of the world, including China, India, and Russia, also may not be prepared for Y2K.

The bottom line, IT managers say, is to overprepare. Y2K testing in recent weeks has gone well for NPD Group Inc., a marketing-research firm in Port Washington, N.Y., says Pamela Giggie-Accetta, manager of information management. Still, the staff will be on call throughout the weekend-just in case. "I really don't expect anything to happen," Giggie-Accetta says. "But you know Murphy's Law-if we weren't ready, something would probably happen."