Simulating dates in early 2000 in a sheltered testing environment, her staff can verify that all the systems work smoothly when they interact, and can simulate data exchanges with external entities such as the Franchise Tax Board, insurance companies and major vendors. Since 2000 is a leap year, Brown plans to simulate dates in January through March 2000 to make sure the systems work on Feb. 29 as well. There are so many pieces to the picture. We're dependent not only on our staff efforts, but also on outside vendors. Getting outside parties to guarantee that they're Y2K compliant is difficult.
Businesses fear that if they make such a guarantee and there's a glitch, they'll be sued.
Expensive and time-consuming as it is, the year 2000 problem may have some positive effects. The deadline may also offer some unexpected organizational benefits. We never knew how many local financial and business systems are out there in the campus departments. Having to report on the Y2K status of campus systems gives us a better picture of the lay of the land. The year 2000 deadline has forced some long-overdue maintenance, review and upgrading, McCredie believes, and was an impetus behind the decision to convert to the new Berkeley Financial Systems software.