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Vipul Jain of Kale Consultants has tips for Y2K

Vipul Jain, managing director of Kale Consultants, today delivered the third track on Y2K in the seventh session at IT World '98 / Comdex India.

He spoke on 'Strategy for implementation of Y2K solutions - vendors and models'.

"All machines and IT processes made before 1997 need to be closely examined for Y2K compliance. We are just waking up to a crisis whose magnitude is not yet fully known," he warned.

"The responses from almost all levels in the hierarchy of the organisation as regards status of Y2K compliance is ambiguous. Answers normally tend to be along the line, 'I think we are doing fine,' but the fact is that most often they do not know," he said.

The bad news about the situation is that there is no user ownership of the problem.

The IS dept is expected to handle it. There is a timidity on the part of the IS to ask for the required budgets. Nor is there quantitative information on the status.

The approach to tackling the Y2K problem is to first get a clear status information and co-opt the end user of the system at various locations as an asset.

"What can't be measured can't be done," he quoted Lord Kelvin. Completeness levels in each location in the organisation must be measured, documented and recorded.

Y2K monitoring should split Y2K into phases: collect data on each project's status in each phase, collate information on level of progress as percentage of completion and focus attention on projects behind schedule.

The primary effort must be to eliminate ambiguity.

Since the Y2K problem is too critical a process to leave unmonitored, senior management must get involved early and set up control structures and flag danger areas closely.

An independent audit and verification of the tests as well should be monitored.

The monitoring effort is best done through IT.

In a case study, Jain narrated his experience in a Y2K project with the State of Victoria, Australia. The major step involved in getting across to the political leadership was the seriousness of the millennium bug.

Monitoring methodology comprises administering weighted questionnaire through the Internet to all governmental locations in the state and an updation every month.

Management commitment was assessed closely with respect to inventory and risk assessment, identification of systems, planned completion dates etc. Contingency plans and targeted audits and reviews were put in place.

Finally a one-page report to the cabinet addressed the directions for further work towards ensuring compliance to Y2K.

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