U.S. perfection impossible

Koskinen said basic U.S. infrastructure was ready for January 1, when unprepared computers could crash if they misread the last two zeros in a date field and mistake 2000 for 1900.

But not every system will be fixed in time, "and no amount of testing can ensure perfection," he said. He noted that a few federal agencies encountered glitches--even in systems that had been fixed and tested--when fiscal 2000 began on October 1.

"We also expect failures in sectors where large numbers of organizations were late in starting or, even more troubling, are taking a wait-and-see approach," Koskinen said.

More here.

--aj

-- Anonymous, November 05, 1999

Answers

Here's some red, just so FactFinder doesn't think he's getting ahead of me... :-)

Energy exporters threatened

Many of the countries that are least prepared for Year 2000 are important energy exporters, said the report, prepared at the request of Rep. John Dingell (D-Michigan) of the House Commerce Committee.

"Any significant disruptions from the century date changeover that impact [the energy] industry locally could have a negative impact on the U.S. and global economies," the report said.

It cited Russia, Iran, Venezuela, Nigeria, Algeria, Indonesia, Turkmenistan, Malaysia, Uzbekistan, Nigeria, Angola, and Colombia as among energy exporters that "may experience disruptions tied to Year 2000."

More here.

--aj

-- Anonymous, November 05, 1999

I found this article this morning and hoped someone would post it on this forum as I didn't have time. I believe this info. from the government is the first to begin telling it like it is. Koskinen says Jan. will only be the beginning and chronic problems may build on one another during the months after January.

Now about oil, one more time: Here the government admits energy exporting Venezuela is in trouble. We get a trememdous amount of oil from there. If we don't get it the country is going to take a dive.

A number of months ago I said Factfinder & Co. should go to Venezuela and the middle east and fix those oil producing countries. Well, they didn't go and neither did anyone else. No/not enough oil = no electricity.

I believe it is in this article that Koskinen says the govern. will start tracking the world on Dec. 28. I have worked out a world schedule of Dec. 31, midnight, around the world (there is one on the web but I think mine is easier to follow since I have geared the times to correspond to U.S. times. Send me an e-mail and I will forward it to any of you that want it. Malcolm will be the first to see the new year at 5:00 a.m., Dec. 31, USA central standard time. I wonder if he could just send all of us a message shortly afterward to give us his impression of the "suspense." He will have plenty of time since nothing is going to happen there.

I found it interesting that the US is close to the end of the world roll-over. It is also interesting to see the progression of the countries.

-- Anonymous, November 05, 1999

Excellent html'ing AJ. I have to confess, I use an editor for large dodocuments. I do know a bit a little html, but If I don't "test" it first, I typically mess up the tags somewhere along the line!

I noted that Venezuela wy2k status looked among the worst in the Senate 100 day report. FYI Marcella, the Venezuelan government believes otherwise, especially for electricty and oil which are both "in the green".

The Senate report notwithstanding, I prefer to go to a little closer to the source for accurate and current information. The Venezuelan goverment recently updated their Y2K status document availabe at http://www.venezuela2000.gov.ve/: http://www.venezuela2000.gov.ve/Vene_Y2K_Status.zip (unzips to Word 97 doc, just updated)

VENEZUELA Y2K PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION

3. Oil and Oil by-Products National Coverage, High Impact

Petrsleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) represents the whole oil industry of Venezuela. PDVSA is the sole carrier, refiner, distributor and exporter of oil and its by-products. It also carries out most prospecting activities and manages agreements with multinational companies for the prospecting of remaining oil fields.

PDVSA has tackled the Y2K problem through the PDVSA 2000 Program, started in 1995 and comprising five main areas: Information Systems, Industrial Automation, Telecommunications, General Systems, and Internal and External Relations. At this stage, virtually all of the companys critical systems are fully remediated and tested, and contingency planning is ready in case of any failure that may occur. In the area of information systems, most administrative applications run on SAP-R3 system, which is fully Y2K compatible and is totally installed and operational in the companys main branches and subsidiaries. In the case of specialized applications for the prospecting and production areas, they are operated jointly with Geoquest (a Schlumberger division). At this time all critical applications, which include about 25 million code lines, are completely remediated, tested and implemented. Critical systems and equipment of the industrial automation area are 95% ready, with only a few isolated systems to be repaired during October and November. In telecommunications, PDVSA completed remediation and testing of critical systems, including testing of components already certified as Y2K-compliant by their manufacturers. The area of general systems includes, among others, medical equipment (95% compliant), security and access control (83%), buildings and other facilities (99%). Finally, in the area of internal and external relations, PDVSA developed an aggressive communications strategy towards its employees, the country and the international community, which also included visits to customer countries.

To meet the needs of its logistic structure, PDVSA has worked jointly with customers and suppliers to ensure continuity of purchases, sales and inter-company communications. As a part of this effort, it created joint task forces at a national level with the electric, telecommunications and financial sectors. As a result, integrated tests of national and international telecommunications networks were carried out, as well as data interchange tests with banking institutions.

PDVSA investment in the PDVSA 2000 Program totals over US $ 200 million, and this does not include the implementation of SAP/R3, nor costs involved in associate operations where PDVSA participates but not as main operator. The Program was given maximum priority by the highest levels of company management, and has therefore involved the whole organization, together with a dedicated team of up to 1,000 including consultants and employees. Considering the financial resources, organization and time spent, as well as the progress achieved, no problems are expected in PDVSA critical processes and the oil industry in Venezuela. "

-- Anonymous, November 06, 1999

I have been following Venzuela for over a year. This report should be titled, "How To Go From the Pits to Perfect in One Easy Lesson." Reminds me of Koskinen saying "X" government department was the pits and the next day saying they were perfect. Maybe these people all go to the same elementary school. Maybe they are your classmates?

-- Anonymous, November 06, 1999

Typo - Venezuela

-- Anonymous, November 06, 1999

there you go again marcella...

trying to confuse everyone with the facts. you should know by this stage of the game that 'some' people on this forum don't want to deal with facts...

they are most unsettling.

-- Anonymous, November 06, 1999

No, my classmates are the ones that fixed the Y2K problems, not the ones who "spin" it...:)

Regards,

-- Anonymous, November 07, 1999

FactFinder,

With all due respect, you have no idea if your classmates fixed the problems or just introduced a whole new set of problems. There is no end to end testing going on, and until that happens nobody will know just what is really working and what is hopelessly botched. You really owe it to your listeners to pay attention to IT professional statements about software projects and how they usually turn out. Hint, they usually turn out pretty bad and are either scrapped or many months are spent trying to make them work. Ask Hershey about it. Better yet, ask the IRS. 4+ billion down the tube for them and still working on the old stuff, riddled with Y2k problems.

-- Anonymous, November 07, 1999

Gordon, "No ones doing end to end testing" - I have seen this myth everywhere on the Internet. We certainly did, in both embedded systems and software applications. Please provide evidence from those doing the remediation and testing that they aren't fully testing.

Regards,

-- Anonymous, November 09, 1999

A little more information regarding "end to end" testing and the frequently cited "interconnectedness of it all", the majority of embedded system devices have VERY LITTLE INTERCONNECTEDNESS at ALL. Only higher level control or monitoring systems are likely to have multiple data exchanges. On the software level, many of the software applications on desktop PCs are run stand-alone, and aren't exchanging data with other programs. Those programs that interfaced with other software AND HARDWARE, we tested. We also tested programs that interfaced with mainframe databases.

Like Y2K, the "interconnectedness of it all" problem is way overblown.

The hype ends in two months - enjoy the last leg of the ride ;)

Regards,

-- Anonymous, November 09, 1999

I don't know from nuthin' re 'lectricity. But I have lived in Latin America. I wouldn't bet that the tortillas are compliant. I would bet the farm that the computers are not ready, the oil fields and refineries are not ready. NOTHING is ready and on time in that country. Manana is but around the corner. They have no concept of deadlines in SA. "Who is going to fix it"? "THEY will fix it" When will they fix it?" "Manana!!"

Taz

-- Anonymous, November 11, 1999