The Year 2000 Software Crisis: The Continuing Challenge (Yourdon Press Computing Series) - Softcover

Hayes, Ian S.; Ulrich, William M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0139601546 ISBN 13: 9780139601545

Publisher: Prentice Hall Ptr, 1998

Synopsis

Outlines year 2000 conversion problems unique to specific industries, discusses the international implications, and covers potential legal issues

About this title

About the Author

IAN S. HAYES is founder and president of Clarity Consulting, Inc., a Hamilton, MA based management consulting firm that specializes in strategic Information Technology issues.

WILLIAM M. ULRICH is president of Tactical Strategy Group, Inc., a Soquel, CA based consulting firm that specializes in legacy architecture transition planning.

IAN HAYES and WILLIAM ULRICH are also co-authors of the best-selling Year 2000 Software Crisis: Challenge of the Century (Prentice Hall PTR). Together, they have established Triaxsys Research LLC to provide a reliable, integrated and up-to-date source of information on the technological, legal and business issues facing IT organizations through the Year 2000 and beyond.

From the Back Cover

More Year 2000 solutions from the world's #1 Y2K authors and consultants!

The Year 2000 crisis has spread from the computer room to the boardroom. Danger is everywhere from legal risks to failing suppliers. That's why you need The Year 2000 Software Crisis: The Continuing Challenge. This all-new book by the authors of the world's #1 Year 2000 problem-solving guide presents all the latest solutions, delivering more in-depth Year 2000 experience than ever before.

Ian Hayes and William Ulrich go beyond the IT organization to show you how to make the increasingly tough business decisions that go with Year 2000 responsibility:

• Understand the legal implications of your decisions.
• Make "triage" choices that protect critical assets when not everything can be fixed in time.
• Assess Year 2000 readiness throughout your supply chain and address problems with business partners.
• Prepare contingency plans that manage and mitigate the risks of Year 2000 failure.

With the Year 2000 fast approaching, they discuss your best options for sourcing (and outsourcing) Year 2000 work, and present an in-depth look at century-date certification testing -- which differs in critical ways from standard software testing. They address the embedded systems located throughout your buildings and factories.

As the new century approaches, Year 2000 project teams must work faster and smarter. Hayes and Ulrich evaluate a wide range of new strategies, tools and techniques with the goal of obtaining maximum productivity and lowest risk within the time remaining.

Whatever your role -- IT management, senior business executive, or Year 2000 project team member -- you can't afford to be without this up-to-the-minute Year 2000 "report from the field."

From the Inside Flap

Preface

This is our second book about the Year 2000 software crisis. It begins where our first book, The Year 2000 Software Crisis: Challenge of the Century, left off. Building awareness about the Year 2000 problem--the inability of computer software and hardware to correctly process dates in the next century is no longer an issue. The issue has leapt from the realm of obscure technologists to the world of international politics. It is a regular topic in the media, gracing the cover of Newsweek and appearing frequently in newspapers and radio and television shows. Within corporations, the issue has moved from the computer room to the boardroom, no doubt aided by predictions of over $1 trillion in legal costs from Year 2000-related lawsuits. Respected economists are warning about the possibility of a Year 2000-triggered recession. Finally, the crisis has become a business issue rather than a technical issue.

When our first book was launched, we never expected it to become by far the best-selling book on the Year 2000 crisis. We were taken by surprise by the demand and the media attention that we received. In addition to our ongoing consulting projects, we frequently appeared as guests on radio talk shows and local TV news programs and William Ulrich represented us on the "Today Show." We spoke at conferences and industry events for the IT, investment, and legal communities. Tiring as this schedule has been, it gave us the opportunity to speak to thousands of our readers around the world. We heard about the challenges and frustrations facing Year 2000 projects in virtually every industry segment. This interaction was immensely rewarding, and we are grateful to all who shared their knowledge and opinions with us. We heard what worked, what didn't, and where help was needed. In no uncertain terms, we were told what our readers wanted in a new book. This book is written to meet those needs.

In the course of the past two years, the needs of our readers have changed. The topics in the first book, such as how to start and run a Year 2000 project, remain relevant and important, but new and thornier issues have arrived. It is now clear that achieving Year 2000 compliance within a given company is not enough. If the company's suppliers cannot deliver raw materials or its customers cannot buy product or services, the company is as affected as if its own systems failed. The date problem appears in new and increasingly insidious locations. Computer chips relying on dates are embedded everywhere in our highly automated society, running everything from our telephone systems to manufacturing assembly lines and medical equipment. Testing the compliance of hardware and software is turning out to be more costly and difficult than imagined.

On the positive side, software tools have undergone an amazing evolution. The variety of tools on the market is truly stunning. Sifting through these tools is a challenge, as many of the claims seem either exactly the same or strain credibility. At least the ever-present desire for a magic "silver bullet" solution has finally subsided to manageable levels. Consulting services have also blossomed. The Year 2000 problem has been a windfall to many consulting companies. Although the market was slow to take off, predictions of staffing and consultant shortages have finally come true. The high rates provided by Year 2000 projects have enabled consulting companies to retool their offerings, adding tools, training, and methodologies to the mix.

Perhaps the scariest change has been the realization that most companies will not achieve full century-date compliance in time. Contingency planning and risk management are two of the hottest subjects in the market today as companies attempt to prepare for the inevitable. The rallying cry has become "if you can't do everything, at least do the right things!" as companies seek to direct scarce resources to those projects that provide the greatest overall risk reduction. Given this realization, protecting the company from the failures of others becomes increasingly important. The complexity of physical and electronic supply chains is such that the failure of a single link in the chain can compromise the entire operation.

This book is written to address these new topics. It seeks to supplement and extend the discussion started in our first book. Our intent is to provide our readers with the latest information and best industry thinking possible. We hope that armed with this information, our readers and their organizations will be better prepared to handle the challenges that face them as the new century approaches.

Audience for the Book
This book is written for corporate executives, IT managers, business managers, software vendors, consultants, and other individuals who require an in-depth understanding of Year 2000 issues. It is written in ten chapters and designed to meet two goals. The first goal is to update readers on changes and advances that have occurred in the Year 2000 field since the authors first book was published. The second goal is to expand, where merited, upon topics already discussed in the first book.

Those individuals charged with implementing a century-date compliance effort will want to read all chapters in detail and use this book as an ongoing reference on the Year 2000 topic. This book is intended to supplement the first book and assumes a basic understanding of Year 2000 topics. Readers unfamiliar with these fundamentals should seek our first book or another reputable introductory text.

Summary of Contents
This book is divided into ten chapters. Each chapter covers a particular topic or topics. Where appropriate, related topics were grouped together to provide a more complete picture of what is happening in the Year 2000 area.

The first chapter, "Year 2000 Progress Update," is a general progress report on the global effort to achieve century-date compliance. It includes an industry-by-industry analysis of potential Year 2000 impacts and current progress toward resolving the problem. It looks at the worldwide economic impact and examines U.S. and international government efforts toward compliance. Finally, this chapter takes a critical look at current media coverage of the Year 2000 topic.

Chapter 2, "Strategy Update: Shift to Risk Mitigation," explores the various strategies and steps that should be undertaken by those organizations that find themselves running out of time to fully complete their Year 2000 conversions. The foundation of these efforts lies in preparing, evaluating, interpreting, and acting on proper business risk assessments. Chapter 2 discusses how best to approach the risk assessment process.

Continuing with this "risk" theme, Chapter 3, "Legal Issues and Protections," deals in general terms with the legal risks and ramifications of the Year 2000 facing companies. While particular companies may be more at risk than others, all companies will have to deal with potential legal liability arising from Year 2000-related failures. Chapter 3 suggests some actions that companies can take to minimize their legal exposure.

Chapter 4, "Non-IT Issues and Answers," looks at those areas other than IT that are particularly susceptible to Year 2000 problems. It begins by examining the ramifications of Year 2000 failures in specific industries and continues with a discussion of the oft-neglected supply chain, external partner, and embedded technology areas.

Chapter 5, "Getting Help: Factories, Outsourcing, and Services," describes some of the methods in which companies can deal, and are dealing, with the resource issue. It is no secret that Year 2000 projects are imposing a heavy burden on IT staff and that additional resources are becoming scarce. Chapter 5 deals with the approaches that an IT organization can take to ameliorate the problem, ranging from setting up an internal factory to supplemental staffing to contracting with external factories.

Chapter 6, "Standards, Tools, and Techniques Update," talks about the current state of Year 2000 remediation. It focuses on the presence or lack of date formatting standards, how to maximize remediation productivity and current techniques available and/or in use in the remediation process.

Chapters 7 and 8 offer an in-depth look at the nuances of century-date certification testing. Year 2000 testing techniques differ in a number of critical ways from standard testing approaches. Chapter 7, "Year 2000 Testing Basics," discusses some fundamental rules about Year 2000 testing that each organization should be familiar with before it launches its testing program. The chapter explores the differences between Year 2000 and regular testing, the scope of Year 2000 testing, the types and levels of tests that will have to be conducted in any Year 2000 test program, and how to adapt and reduce the testing process using risk-based methods.

Chapter 8, "Implementing a Year 2000 Test Program," explains how to set up an organizational Year 2000 testing program. It discusses the activities and tasks that must be performed at the enterprise and application levels to establish a solid testing program. These steps include building the infrastructure necessary to conduct testing and creating the test plans, schedules, test data, test scripts and myriad other pieces that must be in place to manage and execute the testing process.

Following these chapters is Chapter 9, "Contingency Planning: When Time Runs Out," which deals with a sensitive but critical topic. Chapter 9 takes our hidden fear--not finishing in time--and exposes it to daylight. The chapter explains the concept of contingency planning, discusses ways in which systems or technology could go wrong or fail, and follows with some concrete ways in which companies can develop, and invoke, contingency plans for the various risks faced.

Chapter 10, "Managing the Transition: Surviving the Inevitable," takes us forward in time to the century transition and looks at what we can and should do to prepare ourselves for any problems, and to mitigate any ensuing damages. It concludes with an introspective look at the Year 2000 issue and explores what we've learned, the lingering problems that remain, the positive side effects, and the opportunities to prevent similar problems in the future.

An appendix containing a noninclusive list of tool vendors, consulting firms, and conversion companies is provided as an aid to our readers.

Final note: As Year 2000 activities accelerate, new issues and solutions will appear at an ever-increasing rate. Government attention, both in the United States and abroad, is creating an influx of new legislation and regulations that impact Year 2000 projects, vendors, and investors. Given the speed of these changes, the authors have launched a newsletter service through Triaxsys Research LLC to provide up-to-the-minute information on the topics covered in this book. Readers interested in further information about this newsletter are invited to read the Triaxsys company description in the appendix where it is listed with the authors' firms.

Edition details

• Publisher: Prentice Hall Ptr
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0139601546
• ISBN 13: 9780139601545
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 452