Action 2000 is the official British Government Y2K site.

http://business.bug2000.co.uk/steps/systems/

CURRENT STATE OF READINESS

Using Action 2000's model of readiness, which indicates different levels of Year 2000 readiness, 65% of SME companies (those with 10-249 employees) can be considered 'on course' in their preparations (Readiness Groups ABC). Given that 7% of 10-249s does not have either a PC or any plant/ process or production equipment (Group Z), 72% can be considered to be in a good position to see through Year 2000 problems, although may still face external threats.

87% of companies with more than 250 employees currently sit in readiness groups ABC. Of the remaining thirteen percent, three-quarters are undertaking contingency planning, possibly relying on this as their key solution. However, more than half claim to have critical systems containing embedded systems and, on average, larger companies have hundreds of PCs and many operate bespoke [custom] software.

Against a more simplistic assessment for micro businesses (1-9s), 54% appear to be 'on-course' and a further 28% sit in Group Z (no recognisable internal exposure).

Figure 1 details actual readiness levels of companies for Wave 6 (June 1999) and shows findings from Action 2000's second wave of research amongst leading FTSE companies. In the last row, Figure 1 outlines companies' perceptions of their level of readiness and indicates that the 'perception gap' apparent in previous research is now diminishing. The elements that make up the readiness model are outlined in Appendix B.

Figure 1 [see site]

As Figure 1 clearly indicates, there is a difference by company size in terms of readiness. Figure 2 outlines the levels of actual readiness by company size within the core SME audience of businesses with 10-249 employees (c. 190,000 businesses), and takes into account Group Z.

Figure 2 [see site]

Although the assessment for companies with less than 20 employees takes fewer factors into account than for companies with more than 20 employees (as a reflection of differences in business management styles), concern must be expressed at the lower levels of readiness amongst companies with 20-99 employees. The vast majority of these companies have business critical PCs or run IT networks and roughly two-fifths are not taking appropriate action.

Figure 3 [see site]

Readiness by Industry Sector and Region for 10-249s

Sectoral and regional differences are assessed for core SME companies with 10-249 employees. Figure 4 details readiness levels by industry sector (including Group Z, as reliance on IT/ production equipment varies greatly by sector).

Figure 4 [see site]

Figure 5 [see site]

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), August 04, 1999