north shore news Wednesday, August 26, 1998 — North Shore News — 15 Millennium bug is waiting to explode Liam Lahey Contributing Writer PHILOSOPHER Nostradamus predicted the world will end come the year 2000, and true to his word, a _ death of sorts is forth- coming. As the turn of the century '- rapidly approaches, the confu- sion and uncertainty of whether or not the dreaded . “millennium bug” (Y2K) will have a deadly impact on your ~ business’ computer system is debatable. Since nearly all computers and databases store the year as a two-digit number, like 98 or 99, its always been understood that the missing digits are 19. —As-of less than two years from now, however, the missing “digits won't be 19 anymore. “The danger. here is most com-. ‘puters won't be able to recog- nize this. Their internal calen- dars, will flip over from 99 to 06,; causing the. first digit to vay. Since only two ‘provided to carr ¢ computer will ic year is 1900 and not For the complacent, time is out: The problem M y (if not all) fac d world, . mn NEWS photo Paul McGrath MICHAEL Hammond holds the “millennium bug” antibiotic for PC computer sys- tems. His | company holds the provincial distribution rights for the program. likely compliant,” ‘Hammond said. “However the clones of those, models are not compli- ant;and anyone still using ‘Windows 3.1 are not compli- - : The atitomotive and insur: dustries are at risk, so are airline companies ‘and “airports, hospitals, govern- nt. offices, : ‘military “bases, ‘major financial : scorpora- wait. tions., The - extent of ‘possible ais. havoc at the turn of the centu- “Columbia that. may: cing. Hammond specializes’ in re the mil- ‘It:would only take 60 sec- onds for. us‘to’ come to your usiness..and tell you: free of ze if your system, needs to ded not,” nd said; “If, your com- does rieed to be upgrad- tld only take 20 min- and ‘cost no more than ‘ammond ‘Enterprises is - authorized dealer for : Inc., _ fian-bas¢d company ibutes the Centurion Hardware’ Card, a permanent antibiotic to the millennium puters that were made within the last. two years’ are most ry is unknown. Accounting businesses are the most obvi- ous examples. Consider the. interest. due ona bank loan in. = BEB offers workplace system assessment STATISTICS ‘Canada . conducted a national survey 6n the prepared- | ness of Canadian busi- nesses for the year 2000 and found some shock- ing results. Two thousand respondents from small, medium and large sized Canadian companies, took part in the survey: 90% of all com aware of techni that could arise; ® 50% of those aware have ies were problems ‘ done nothing about it; ® 60% of-small firms were tak- ing no action; - ff 30% of medium-sized com- panies have not begun to address the problem; 92% of lange sized firms were 1900 when the foan was made _in 1990. Despite the fact the com- puter industry months, many small and medi- um-sized businesses are not preparing themselves to deal with the Y2K computer glitch. Hammond added the worst thing anyone can do is “Consider it like this: if you have a hole in a window you have two choices,” Hammond said. “You-can cither replace ‘the pane of glass immediately and. be done with it, or you ean By and cover that hole addressinj it in someway, but only 48% have formalized plans; § only 42% of manufacturing, transportation, and service industries have: taken formal and informal steps to tackle the issue; Wa meagre 13% of those aware of the problem are looking into the preparedness of their cus- tomers, suppliers and service roviders; a whopping 82% of those aware of the problem, still believe there is no potential for their own liability arising from potential malfunctions. The Better Business Bureau of Mainland B.C. recommends small and medium sized busi- nesses take the first step towards Y2K compliancy by registering with their First Step Program. This program offers a _ NEW AND USED PENTIUM SYSTEMS FROM SPEAKERS. FROM $25 has been. sounding alarm bells for with'a cardboard patch and. tape. If, when it tains, thar. patch starts to leak, you’ve got the same problem all over again.” Edward Yardeni, Chief Economist for Deutsche, Morgan, Grenfell, estimated in a recent issue of Forbes ASAP that $530 billion U.S. will be needed to repair out: dated software programs. An additional $75 billion U.S. will be required to test the repairs, and $454 billion U.S. to retrofit eight-bit format databases. Not to mention the $76 billion U.S. used to replace inadequate specially trained post-second: student to visit the workplace to assess computer systems and software and to discuss options for preparation. Assessments should include: W@ Y2K awareness — what the year 2000 means to company technol business _relation- ships and legal ition; @ inventory of computer soft- ware and its potential danger Ba Seiled report oudining suggestions concerning the next step towards compliance. Financial backing from both Ind Canada and CIBC has ensured the First Step Pro; is cost effective: $195 for tp to 10 PCs ($15 per extra PC). ~ peruneisuey an - DESKTOPS FROM $149 ~ COLOR MONITORS FROM $39 microchips, which are neces- sary to sustain Internet providers, and another $300 billion U.S. for post-millenni- um screw ups. Yardeni expects a world- wide recession to follow the turn of the millennium; he currently puts the chance of it at 70%, and raises the figure almost monthly. The risk of economic destruction is very real. So real- in fact, the Canadian govern- ment, along with some major corporations, have organized an emergency support system. Task Force 2000, compris- es Chrysler Canada, IBM, . BCE Inc., : Corporation, the Royal Bank Canadian Tire of Canada, Petro-Canada, Crown Life Insurance, and many others. In conjunction with the federal government, the program is designed to provide information and assist businesses adjust their data- bases, to shift smoothly into . the new millennium. “The mandate of the -task force on the year 2000 is to provide an assessment of the nature and scope of the elec- tronic challenge in Canada,” said Suzanne Marineau, spokesperson tor Task Force Year 2000 Sccretariat. What could possibly. be Accounts payable AP y lines, inventory control, telephone’ affected? and receivable, assemb systems, the list is endless. Without ‘the necessary adjust- ments, your systems may stop functioning or cause: costly errors. Software woes are another issuc altogether, Hammond - everything will just fall into” lace. “It really depends on what types of software programs . you’re running,” he said. ~ “You may need to contact the manufacturer of the software in question to sce about.an. | upgrade on that front as well.” He further warned that businesses should look into. what their suppliers, associates and partners are doing to: combat the dilemma. There may be a tiie bomb in your office. The clock is is ticking. ; warmed ‘against the fallacy'that = | once. the computer is fixed, For more information ji iv the _ Lower Mainland,- call .29}<..° J+. 7 5255 or 291- 5221, or call roll: free at 1-888-807- F777. Worried : implications ' of upgrading « or ments The _ computer - equip- capital cost allowance (CCA)... Deductions of up to $50,000 will be provided for computer. . hardware. and —_ software... acquired to replace systems ‘that ~ are not Y2K compliant. For further information, contact Revenue Canada. Tax Services Offices: Ed Short, Tax Legislafjon Division, Dept.. of Finance at (613) 966-0599 or Bob: «Morrison, — Business Income Tax Division, Dept. of Finance, (613) 995-9920. about the. ‘tax.