ITAA's Year 2000 Outlook
July 17, 1998                         Volume 3, No. 27

Published by the Information Technology Association of
America, Arlington, VA Bob Cohen, Editor
bcohen@itaa.org

Read in over 70 countries around the world

ITAA's Year 2000 Outlook is published every Friday to
help all organizations deal more effectively with the
Year 2000 software conversion.  To create or cancel a
subscription to this free publication, please visit
ITAA on the web at https://www.itaa.org/tr
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ITAA's Year 2000 Outlook is sponsored in part by CACI
International Inc., DMR Consulting Group Inc., and
Y2Kplus

Clinton Talks Y2K

Six months after appointing his Y2K Czar, President
Bill Clinton took the nation's date rollover debate to
the next level in substantive remarks delivered this
week at the National Academy of Science in Washington,
DC.

ITAA President Harris Miller, who participated in the
NAS event, said the long wait for the Administration to
become energized on the Year 2000 issue is finally
over.  "We welcome the President's remarks…and see them
as a sign that this Administration is ready to engage
on this difficult situation.  Y2K Czar John Koskinen is
doing yeoman's work, but the dimensions of this problem
are mind-boggling.  The prestige of the presidency is
needed to deal with issues ranging from national and
international readine ss to small business incentives
to liability safeguards.  We hope that the President
and Vice President will rally the nation and, by so
doing, reduce the risks that this unprecedented
situation represents to every citizen.  Only through
recognizing Y2K a s a common challenge and a shared
responsibility can we hope to find satisfactory
solutions."

The President cited a series of Administration Y2K
initiatives in his remarks, including a recently
launched campaign by the Small Business Administration;
Good Samaritan legislation to promote information
sharing; a Department of Labor job bank for Y2K w
orkers; a $12 million financial contribution to the
World Bank's Y2K program; and a national campaign on
the issue to be initiated later this month by the
President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion.  Clinton
also issued three challenges to the private se ctor
during his remarks: that every business must take
responsibility for their own Y2K compliance, that
businesses share information on the issue, and that
businesses communicate their Y2K status to customers.

The Good Samaritan bill, still in draft form, is
expected to allow companies to issue Y2K-related
statements without fear that those statements can be
used in evidence in any subsequent lawsuit.  The goal
is to encourage the widest possible dissemination of
Y2K information so that organizations can move
effectively to remediation.

"This is a good start," Miller said, "As the President
correctly observes, no government, company or industry
can do it alone.  We are all in this together.  And now
the world's most important player is in the game."

Gary Beach, publisher of CIO Magazine, attended the
National Academy of Science event and said that while
he was pleasantly surprised by some of what the
President said, he was also concerned about what wasn't
said.  "There was little if any mention of Do D
preparedness," Beach said, adding that a CIO magazine
survey found national security the top concern
expressed.  Beach questioned whether enough time
remains to implement the President's Good Samaritan
bill-and whether legal obstacles are the true cause of
corporate reticence to share information.  According to
Beach, the problem might be more of having the
information to share.  "Companies don't want to open
the digital kimono," he suggested, because the sight
could prove embarrassing.  The gap betwee n what
companies have said and done on the date issue, he
said, "might be as wide as the Grand Canyon."

SIA Reports Progress on Industrywide Beta Test

With two days down and two to go, the Securities
Industry Association (SIA) reports its industrywide
beta test is on schedule and working as planned.  SIA
is conducting the test to determine the impact of the
Year 2000 date rollover on the nation's securi ties
trading infrastructure.  Twenty nine firms and 13
exchanges and utilities are participating in this trial
run, the precursor to full scale industrywide testing
scheduled for early next year.

While not quite a done deal, industrywide testing
springs from the recognition that no securities firm is
an island.  Individual companies may correct their
systems to handle Y2K dates, but the industry depends
on the ability of multiple firms to exchange
information.  Transactions must be able to flow through
this mega system, incorporating broker dealers,
exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories.

In the beta version, SIA members are simulating a T+3
order entry cycle for equities, options, municipal
bonds, corporate bonds, unit investment trusts and
mutual funds.  Each day of the four-day beta test
models conditions of the January 3, 2000 order entry
cycle.  Monday, July 13, first day of the beta test,
simulated conditions on December 29, 1999; Wednesday,
July 15 simulated December 30.  Testing for December
31, 1999 and January 3, 2000, will be completed next
week.

To create this simulation, beta test participants are
using both time warp tools and readjusting system
clocks.  Beta test participants have set up separate
systems to run the test data.  For the full
industrywide test, which will take place on production
systems over weekend periods, SIA indicates it will ask
participants to readjust system clocks after taking
appropriate precautions.

SIA says that issues to date have included computers
not recognizing valid test symbols and line
connections.  The association will use what it learns
to improve test scripts and procedures for the full
test.  SIA says beta test results will be announced on
August 10.

SEC Trades Position on Omitting Y2K Report

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has denied
the petition of a Nevada healthcare provider to omit
information about the Y2K readiness in its proxy
materials.  The SEC found a shareholder proposal asking
Tenet Healthcare Corp. to prepare quarter ly status
reports raises significant policy issues beyond
ordinary business operations-even though earlier the
agency ruled against the similar request of a Time
Warner Inc. shareholder.  Tenet maintained that the
requested report covers decisions about c omputer
technology, an ordinary business matter, and therefore
is excludable under the 1934 Securities Exchange Act
Rule 14a-8( c )(7).  The SEC No-Action Letter did not
explain the agency's reasons for finding differences
between the two requests.

Meanwhile, Rep.  John Dingell (D-MI), ranking minority
member of the House Commerce Committee, has told the
SEC to pick up the pace on Y2K disclosure rules for
investment advisors.  In a recent letter, Dingell
criticized the agency, saying that the reporti ng rules
should have been adopted two years ago.  Dingell also
wrote that the June 10 testimony of SEC Commissioner
Laura Unger paints a "bleak picture" of public company
disclosure, and he questioned whether yet another
interpretation on disclosure requ irements is strong
enough action to gain compliance.

New Bill Offers Y2K Protections

Reps.  David Dreier (R-CA) and Christopher Cox (R-CA)
have introduced the Y2K Liability and Anti-Trust Reform
Act, legislation to limit the damages related to
Y2K-related failures to actual business losses for
companies making reasonable efforts to beat th e bug.
The anti-trust exemption would suspend application of
Federal Trade Commission anti-trust law provisions to
agreements or activities involving computer date
repairs.

To gain the liability protections, "computer-related"
companies would be required to fix non-compliant
hardware and software.  Such fixes must be available
for date failed products sold before January 1, 1995
and be made available cost-free for date faile d
products sold after December 31, 1994.  Companies using
computers could plug into the protections by making all
reasonable efforts to fix their systems, run tests by
July 1, 1999, and notify both customers and the
President's Y2K Commission of prospecti ve Y2K failures
by August 1, 1999.

"With the press reporting that some unscrupulous
lawyers are already planning mult-billion dollar
lawsuits to reap monetary rewards from America's pain,
it's in the national interest to have companies focused
on fixing Y2K problems rather than being froze n by the
fear of lawsuits," Dreier said.  He called the Good
Samaritan legislation announced this week "a pop gun
response" offered by the "trial lawyer-dependent
Clinton Administration."

Small Business Hearing Airs Y2K Concerns

Testifying before the House Committee on Small Business
this week, National Federation of Independent Business
(NFIB) Senior Research Fellow William J. Dennis, Jr.
said two in five small businesses do not intend to do
anything about the Y2K computer issue and one in five
hasn't even heard of it.  Only 20 percent, he said,
plan to or have taken action.  Dennis based his remarks
on the findings of a survey conducted jointly by Wells
Fargo Bank and the NFIB Education Foundation.
"Approximately 4 ¾ million s mall employers will have
to act in order to be certain that they avoid a Y2K
impact from in-house facilities," Dennis said, adding,
"Practically every small employer, about six million
firms, is exposed directly or indirectly."

Closer to Home

ITAA*2000 Certifications Announced

Two organizations received ITAA*2000 certification this
week: Computer Services, Inc. of Paducah, Kentucky; and
Ramco Systems, division of Ramco Industries Ltd. of
India.  ITAA*2000 is the industry's century date change
certification program, which examin es processes and
methods used by companies to perform their Year 2000
software conversions.  Both participated in rigorous
evaluations of their approaches to date conversion,
with extensive analysis in eleven discreet process
areas deemed necessary to a s uccessful Year 2000
conversion.

Business to Business

Viasoft, Inc., Phoenix, AZ, has entered into a
strategic relationship with Pinacor, which will enable
their Y2K solution, OnMark2000, to be resold throughout
the US.

Keane, Inc., Boston, MA, has been awarded a Y2K
contract by the Federal Home Loan bank of Pittsburgh.

Alydaar Software Corporation, Charlotte, NC, has
entered into a partnership agreement with Grumman
Systems Support Corporation.  Under the agreement,
Alydaar's remediation and compliance audit services
will be included as part of GSSC's Y2K solutions port
folio.

2000 Technologies Corporation, Lexington, KT, has
announced the availability of Test Harness 2000, their
new automated software which tests for Y2K compliance.

Information Analysis Inc., Fairfax, VA, has won a Y2K
services contract with Seafarers' Vacation Plan.


ITAA Y2K Information Center

Solution Providers Directory
http://www.itaa.org/script/2000vend.cfm

ITAA*2000 Certification Program
http://www.itaa.org/2000cert.htm

Outlook Archive
http://www.itaa.org/script/get2klet.cfm

Legislative and Litigation Table
http://www.itaa.org/Y2Klaw.htm

Calendar
http://www.itaa.org/y2kcal.htm

Vendor/User Status Questionnaires
http://www.itaa.org/questmain1.htm


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Information Technology Association of America, 1616 N.
Fort Myer Drive, Suite 1300, Arlington, VA 22209.
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