Masonry Magazine August 1999 Page. 39
Is Your Company Y2K Ready?
Failure to prepare business and information systems for Y2K is a mistake a company cannot afford to make, according to one expert currently involved in helping draft Y2K liability legislation.
Legal expert Michael Aisenberg spelled out many reasons why construction equipment manufacturers and others in the industry should have a game plan in place for the impending "Y2K bug" during a recent teleseminar conducted by the Construction Industry Manufacturers Association (CIMA). CIMA conducted the Y2K teleseminar to assist the industry in addressing this important issue which will impact companies' business and manufacturing operations.
"There is a great deal of skepticism in many quarters about whether the year 2000 situation is a legitimate problem. As a result, progress on achieving Y2K readiness has been considerably slower than one might have hoped for both in the United States government and industry in general," Aisenberg asserts. "Because of this, there is controversy and debate about how to deal with year 2000 liability issues between vendors and customers in all industries, not just vendors of information technology or software.
"Functional Due Diligence" Explained
At the core of Aisenberg's presentation is a concept he calls "functional due diligence" a thorough review of all of a company's internal systems and external relationships and dependencies that could affect its ability to function.
There are some unique aspects of "functional due diligence" that businesses should use in a Y2K context in their dealings with customers and providers (as opposed to the legal due diligence used when preparing contracts or sale of a property or business), Aisenberg states.
The first is maintaining a well-documented paper trail to establish the facts of any business activity that a firm engages in.
"Actually, any business should have a good document management program in place, but if you don't have one, then the Year 2000 is certainly an important time to begin one," Aisenberg stresses.
The first thing you should do is designate someone to be the Y2K document "czar," according to Aisenberg. This person would know where all the Y2K-related documents are for things such as warranty records, business records including service and insurance contracts, vendor and service obligations. Templates are available on the Web for these documentation programs, he noted.
Vendor and Supplier Readiness Also Important
"Next you ought to look at those business processes and functions that have explicit Y2K implications," Aisenberg continued. In a typical manufacturing environment, these would include financial systems (payroll, accounting, inventory, order processing), communication and document management systems (LAN, satellite, E-mail, word processing, archives, and voice mail) and bread-and butter information items such as production control, shop floor automation, shipping, etc."
Aisenberg stressed that manufacturers and dealers need to take a close look at any vendors or suppliers that are services and hold them to the same high standard you have set. In addition, manufacturers need to examine their "embedded" systems - devices that have microprocessor controls "embedded" in them such as the building HVAC, security, lighting (templates available from the Building Owners and Managers Association at www.boma.org/sig) and telephone systems, especially if the company phone system is linked with its computer network.
Infrastructure Plans Need Attention
Other devices to investigate for their Y2K readiness include computers and controls used in manufacturing, such as robotics and programmable logic controllers (PLCs). "Any of these could become bottlenecks in a worst-case Y2K scenario," Aisenberg explained.
When preparing for Y2K, suppliers and customers should be contacted, because they and other third parties may be dependencies for a manufacturer.
Consideration should also be given to contacting infrastructure suppliers such as power, water, telecommunications and transportation providers, to ascertain their readiness and the contingency plans they have in place in order to ensure that they can continue to provide services to you.
"Don't rely on messages coming from the national business associations of the power, cellular telephone or air transport industries," Aisenberg recommends. "Contact your own local infrastructure vendor and ask for assurances, which should be more than simple letters. They should provide documentation that substantiates their Year 2000 programs at the local level with some vigor. These are important dependencies and if they can't provide adequate assurances, then tell them you will seek another vendor."
Data exchange partners, those on whom you rely to currently move data or make software changes, should also be polled to see if their programs and equipment are Y2K compliant.
What About Most Important Asset?
Finally, Aisenberg stresses that your most important asset, your employees, will play a vital role in the event of a Y2K occurrence. "They, too, will be impacted by any infrastructure breakdowns," he says. "If they can't get to work, everything else becomes irrelevant. They should have their own contingency plans to handle things as simples as traffic lights malfunctioning to bridges not being operable to taking care of a handicapped family member.