Ever since learning relatively recently, from Anita Spooner and others, about the market for remediation services drying up in this country, I have been wondering moodily what in the world this can mean.

Part of the answer seems to be shipping the work offshore to low cost countries, such as India. My Deathmarch Y2K forum has an interesting contribution from Kermit (the thread is "Status of Maintenance Programmers") as to the problems this can lead to.

To summarize my take on this situation: India has a lot of smart people and is dirt cheap BUT their experience managing very large computer projects is minute compared with ours, and with all our sad experience we don't do very well ourselves.

-- Peter Errington (petere@ricochet.net), August 14, 1999

Answers

Plus, it is after all mid-August 1999, a tad late to be seriously discussing "shovelling" out Y2K code remediation work anywhere. (A shovel is a great barter item, though, especially the small folding types that you can carry on a belt, especially if one of the older, military issued. I got one at a gun show recently for $35.)

-- Jack (jsprat@eld.net), August 14, 1999.

Peter:

Interesting that I should choose this thread this morning and see my name mentioned. As early as LAST year, we heard reports of remediated programs being returned from India. The requestor said "Have they been tested?" The Indian translator replied, "Yes." The systems were put into production and failed. The requestor then called the translator again, saying, "I thought you said these were tested." The translator said, "Yes. They were tested. You never asked if they passed the test."

-- Anita (spoonera@msn.com), August 14, 1999.

Speaking about "Shoveling," I am reminded of Paton's speech to the troops about doing something more exciting than "Shoveling Sh*t in Lousiana"!

Couldn't help it. ; )

-- K. Stevens (kstevens@It's ALL going away in January.com), August 14, 1999.