Many companies unprepared for millennium bug in 2000
A new report suggests that many businesses and government agencies are not adequately preparing for the millennium bug, the computer glitch that will affect almost everyone and threatens to throw your business into chaos at the turn of the century.
About 30% of companies worldwide haven’t even started to address the problem, according to a study by the Gartner Group, a technology consulting firm in Stamford, CT. Hospitals, universities, and other large institutions are among those that have done little to prepare, says Matthew Hottle, a Gartner analyst. Government agencies and health care providers were known to be lagging in their efforts to fix the problem, but many analysts hoped they would make progress in the past year after being alerted to the significance of the problem. Hottle says the study suggests otherwise.
The consultants surveyed 2,300 companies, institutions, and government agencies in 17 countries. Larger companies tend to be better prepared for the millennium bug, and U.S. entities are further along in preparations than those in other countries, findings show. The survey indicates that 52% of companies worldwide with more than 20,000 employees are well-positioned; that figure is nearly 80% in the United States. Most of the companies that haven’t even begun to prepare are smaller ones with fewer than 20 employees. The Gartner report notes that the repercussions of the worldwide failure to address the problem can affect even those that have taken action. Even if your institution has solved the problem internally, you still can be affected by the problems of vendors and others you deal with.
The millennium bug, also known as the year 2000 problem, involves a simple glitch built into almost all computers. The system is designed to recognize years as only two digits, such as "97," and to assume that the first two digits are "19." When the year changes to 2000, those computers will either assume the year is 1900 or just be confused into a state of immobility. Either way, the effects could be disastrous for health care billing and almost every other aspect of business if not addressed. Experts caution that it will take years and a lot of money to fix the software problem.
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