McGill coping with Y2K

ERIC SMITH | When the clock strikes midnight on December 31, 1999, essential computer systems at McGill will keep humming along as if it was just another day, oblivious to the dawn of a new millennium. But it's taking a lot of work and substantial investment to guarantee the machines will not succumb to what has become known as the millennium bug or the Y2K problem. The problem affects computer systems which read the date as a two-digit number, and which will consequently fail when 99 turns to 00. It's a problem that would befall many critical McGill systems, such as student records or library systems, without the modification or upgrading of software. According to Doug Jackson, director of Information Systems Resources, the cost of the upgrades falls within what was estimated when McGill began working on the problem in 1995 and the work itself will be almost complete before 1999. In many cases, the solution is simply the purchase of an upgrade for an existing software package, but in some, the software was developed internally and the solutions require modifying the original program. In the case of student records, for example, the program represents two million lines of code. Jackson estimates that particular program is 80% fixed. But it can be slow and frustrating work, especially since, as Jackson points out, "the end product simply leaves you where you were before." Another area that will require a substantial fix is the university's heating and ventilation system which, if left as is, would fail in 2000. It will cost the Department of Facilities Management $150,000 to purchase and install new hardware and software to fix the problem. Now that the question of "mission-critical" systems is under control, the emphasis will shift to "secondary systems," those computer systems that are specific to a unit or department, but which do not affect the overall operations of the University. All units have been asked to prepare a report on their Year 2000 readiness. So far, of 56 units surveyed, 8 are fully compliant and 22 have implemented programs to become compliant. Ten of the returned surveys require further assessment and 16 units have not yet completed a report. Tanya Steinberg became McGill's Y2K project manager last week and will be responsible for tracking units' efforts to ensure their computer systems are Year 2000 compliant. Information on the status of McGill systems is available on ISR's web site at www.is.mcgill.ca.