Questions for a Y2K Program Manager to Ask in Writing

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

1. How many lines of mainframe code do you have?

2. How many desktop computers that interconnect with the mainframes?

3. When did you complete your inventory of code and software systems?

4. When did code remediation begin?

5. How many programs are you using for which the source code has been lost?

6. Do your databases need to be converted to reformat all dates for 4-digit years? If so, when do you plan to shut down all processing of transactions long enough to convert all current and archived databases prior to switching to use of the Y2k compliant programs and converted databases? How long will you be shut down?

7. Which mainframe computer languages, other than COBOL, do your systems contain? For each of these languages, how many programmers do you employ on staff who are familiar with it?

8. Do you have written agreement with all organizations with which you share data on the revised format of dates included in shared data?

9. How many full-time y2k programmers are on your staff?

10. How much money have you budgeted?

11. How much have you spent?

12. What percentage of the project's time have you reserved for testing?

13. How many third-party software products do you use?

14. How many of these products are compliant today?

15. What are the deadlines that the noncompliant product vendors have given you? (Please provide a list of the products and vendors: those that gave you a deadline and those that did not.)

16. How many outside suppliers of products and services?

17. How many of them are presently compliant?

18. How many of these suppliers does your computer interact with?

19. How many compliant substitute suppliers have you identified?

20. Is any company in your industry group compliant?

21. How many of these sister firms is your firm dependent on?

22. What is the weakest link in your industry's chain today?

23. Has its managers supplied you with a deadline for compliance?

24. What is your source of fuel?

25. Are your fuel supplier and delivery system compliant?

26. Do you have an inventory of fuel?

27. How long will it last under conditions in January?

28. How many embedded chips are in your systems?

29. Have you begun to replace defective chips?

30. If so, what is the percentage of defects so far?

31. What date has your Chief Information Officer told you that all of the bad chips will be replaced? (Please submit a photocopy of his signed letter with this estimate.)

32. What is your deadline to begin the final system testing?

33. What is your method for testing code?

34. Where will you get the extra computer capacity to run the tests?

35. How will your new system identify and exclude noncompliant data from outside computers?

36. What percentage of noncompliant industry partners can your systems manage before you must go back to paper and pen information transfers?

37. Have you designed a contingency plan based on paper and pen communications?

38. Can your industry operate today based on paper and pen communications, such as existed in 1960?

39. What date have you told your industry partners, suppliers, and customers that you will begin final testing?

40. If you shoud fail to meet this date, will you immediately inform these people of your new deadline?

41. Please provide a copy of the draft of this letter, and put my name of the list of people to receive it, should you miss the deadline.

-- zoobie (zoobiezoob@yahoo.com), May 29, 1999


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