Slipping Y2K deadlines alarm readiness team

By Chris Barton

Deadline creep continues to be the major problem as corporates battle to get their computers and other date-aware equipment ready to greet the millennium dawn.

"We're progressing, but ..." said deputy chairman David Henry, discussing results of the Y2K Readiness Commission's June sector survey. "The slippage is the downside but the increase in business continuity planning is the positive."

Sectors showing the alarming trend that has occurred in two successive surveys include the electricity industry, where 47 per cent now expect their computers to be ready in the July-September period. That is double the number in April that were aiming to be complete by then.

Mr Henry said the commission had raised its concerns with the electricity sector and felt confident it was on track. The sector is about to publish the Y2K readiness status of each power line and generating entity.

The electricity industry also appears to have gone backwards with its continuity planning. Only 14 per cent of respondents say they have completed contingency planning, compared to 21 per cent in April.

Public hospitals are also making slow progress, with only 14 per cent saying they have finished testing their Y2K fixes and a staggering 64 per cent saying they have already been affected by the millennium bug.

Other sectors that have significantly moved their finish dates from April- June to July-September include retail and wholesale - up 70 per cent; and large business - up 96 per cent.

The telecommunications sector leads the way in Y2K readiness, claiming 96 per cent of the industry will be ready for the Year 2000. It also says 75 per cent have a contingency plan in place. The positive result is tempered by a single group response to the survey rather than individual blind responses from the companies concerned.

The banking industry continues to show leadership too, but even it has slipped its finish dates - especially in getting date-aware equipment ready, which has gone from zero to 40 per cent in the July-September period.

Mr Henry said the commission would be asking in its next survey for companies and organisations to specify why they have changed their finish dates.

Representatives from various sectors had indicated a range of reasons for the slippage. These included: replacement equipment, software and software patches not being delivered on time; software being delivered but subsequently requiring a further patch or upgrade; a reassessment of what systems were critical to a business; and a rescheduling of Y2K work because of other business priorities.

In the small business sector, 49 per cent still say they do not need a business continuity plan. That is despite a change in the survey question to describing "the plans you have made for staying in business should you be affected by the Year 2000 problem".