My question is this: Is there any possibility that the government will be as crippled as the rest of the country? Dare we hope?

-- Liz Pavek (lizpavek@hotmail.com), November 27, 1999

Answers

The more interconnections there are, the more crippling the effect. Gubmint is likely to be more crippled than anyone else. Martial law (if the gubmint can even keep it together) will simply commandeer those who are more prepared than the gubmint.

-- Slobby Don (slobbydon@hotmail.com), November 27, 1999.

According to Joel Willemson of the GAO, the feds have not (as of 10/99) even BEGUN to fix their non-mission-critical systems, and the work will cost (according to the agencies themselves) eight billion--on top of the eight billion they already spent on mission criticals. Judging by their four-factor cost increase in the latter, you might expect the feds spending another thirty billion in upgrades and remediation, just on NON-mission critical systems. Again, these have not yet been started! What do these systems do? I don't know. But they must do something. And remember, these unfinished systems constitute as much as 80% of the total number of federal computer systems. Crippled? I daresay.

-- StanTheMan (heidrich@presys.com), November 28, 1999.

I suspect that they will be crippled in most areas. Like someone else said, the more interconnections, the higher odds of a crippling failure.

If SO MANY systems are non-critical, why do they have them? Surely not all of them are just for sh*ts and grins, huh? If they are non- critical, let's get rid of them, and the expensive govt employees associated with them. :) A great way to reduce the budget.

-- Bill (billclo@msgbox.com), November 28, 1999.