Y>ou’re probably completely numb from Y2K warnings by now. Forecasts range from massive societal shutdown to nothing but a few hiccups that won’t disrupt much of anything. But just to be on the safe side, here are a few last minute tips to protect your business:
- Contact your suppliers to ensure they will be able to ship your orders even in the event their computers fail.
- Call your payroll processing service to ensure it is Y2K compliant.
- Ask your security system provider if your installation is Y2K compliant.
- Determine if your cash register or other point-of-sale equipment will operate properly after Dec. 31, 1999.
- Ensure that your business liability insurance policy will cover any losses due to Y2K-related problems.
- Check your computer hardware and software for Y2K compliance.
- Check with your merchant card account provider to ensure Y2K compliance.
If you’re worried about your car or other personal possessions, go to www.y2kbase.com to check a comprehensive database of who’s compliant and who’s not. If you search a company’s site and find its compliance statement, compare it against Y2K spin, as provided by www.y2knewswire.com:
- Y2K ready. A way to avoid using the word compliant. It provides no objective information about the compliance status of the organization making the claim. It could mean it is ready in the sense of having contingency plans.
- OK to go, Y2K-OK. Provides no compliance status information whatsoever. Used as a popular, witty phrase, but fails to inform of anything meaningful.
- Fully compliant with our internal standards. This was used by President Clinton to describe the compliance status of Social Security. It’s meaningless. Unless the internal standards are disclosed, compliance is entirely subjective.
- Making progress.Anything can be considered making progress, including making the statement about making progress.
- All repairs are completed. Usually a blatant attempt to mislead the listener. The speaker wants the audience to believe all Y2K-related tasks are finished, when, in reality, remediation is only part of the job. After remediation, systems must be tested and implemented.
- Well on our way, On track, or On schedule. Entirely misleading. Attempts to get the listener to believe things are on schedule; but these phrases can be used under any circumstances. “Well on our way” provides no status information about time remaining or percent completed.
- Most of our critical systems will be compliant. A fudge. Allows any number of systems to not make deadline. It also encourages the reclassification of critical systems into noncritical categories where they will be abandoned.
Bad logic and time games
This collection of bad logic details the poor thinking skills people have in denying Y2K problems.
- We have no evidence that “x” will fail. Completely invalid. We had no evidence in 1970, either. That doesn’t mean the systems will work. This kind of thinking is dangerous. Note, too, that this result can be achieved by simply not looking for problems.
- All our internal systems are compliant, therefore we are Y2K compliant. This fallacy is simple: Compliance of internal systems does not equal functional compliance with the outside world.
- We started in 1996 … This is a use of the past to convince the public that things will work in the future. If the start date were truly the important factor, consider that Social Security started in 1989 and still isn’t finished.
- Most of our critical systems will be compliant by {date}. Meaningless. Attempts to use a time goal to give the appearance of progress. But the deadline means nothing because of the “most” and “critical systems” qualifiers, both of which can conveniently be redefined at any time.
- We will be compliant. Future tense attempts to convince the reader that future compliance has been achieved in the present. The idea is meaningless. Compliance is only achieved in the past or the present, not the future.
Meaningful phrases
These are examples you can accept as having real meaning:
- We are right now fully 100 percent compliant in all aspects of our operations, including internal systems, databases, data exchanges and external systems. Here’s an example of an unambiguous claim. This is one of the few statements you can accept as a true compliance claim.
- All systems have been remediated, tested and implemented. We are 100 percent Y2K compliant. A good solid statement that conveys actual meaning. Companies will avoid this phrase at all costs.
Todd Shryock ([email protected]) is SBN’s special reports editor.