http://www.computerworld.com/home/print.nsf/all/991221D6DA

Typhoons, earthquakes -- and now Y2K

By Patrick Thibodeau

12/21/99 U.S.-based companies operating in distant and relatively isolated regions of the world will be among the first to experience the New Year and any Y2K problems. But for some of these companies, with offices and plants in places such as Vietnam and Guam, being prepared for extreme problems is a way of life.

Guam, which has the motto "Where America's Day Begins," will be first U.S. land to see the new year. The island, a seven-hour flight from Hawaii, is just over the International Date Line and 15 hours ahead of New York.

Information technology workers on the island say the same systems used to protect themselves from typhoons and earthquakes -- like the 6.1 quake on the Richter scale that struck Sunday -- have them in good shape for Y2K.

"We have backup water, power and we also have wireless backup of communications," said Ron Schnabel, IS director of DFS Group LP's Pacific region. The San Francisco-based retail chain has duty-free shops throughout the Pacific Rim and is Guam's largest private employer. "We're more protected then any other region," he said.

Because Guam will see the New Year first, Schnabel's operations will also serve as a benchmark for DFS' retail systems throughout Asia.

Other DFS systems won't operate until Guam's retail systems have been checked for any post-Y2K problems, a process that should take five hours, Schnabel said.

Government-run power and water systems are expected to work, but if anything goes wrong, Guam will be on its own. "We have to be self-sufficient," said Dan Sanders, IS manager at Mid-Pacific Liquor Distributing Corp. But that company's systems are already "very hardened" to withstand power outages and fluctuations caused by typhoons and earthquakes, he said.

In Vietnam, Ford Motor Co., which operates a manufacturing plant outside of Hanoi, will pay workers early in case bank financial systems fail.

Though Vietnam isn't as computerized as other developed countries "there is still some nervousness in regard to banking," said Deborah Aronson, the general director of a Ford plant near Hanoi.

The government is closing banks in Vietnam Dec. 31 and New Year's Day, though they are normal work days in Vietnam. (The New Year is celebrated during Tet about a month later.) Aronson said she plans to withdraw a little extra money to be safe, as Vietnam is a cash-driven society.

In Ho Chi Minh City, Herb Cochran, the executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, said he plans to have a three-month supply of drinking water on hand in anticipation of Y2K. Chamber members have met with consulate officials, and the general feeling is "cautious optimism that things won't be too bad," he said.

Lam Nguyen, International Data Group's chief representative in Vietnam, said the country is still largely PC-based and Y2K repairs aren't too difficult. But consumers are stocking up on candles and instant noodles, he said. IDG is the parent company of Computerworld.

-- Brooklyn (MSIS@cyberdude.com), December 23, 1999