The year 2000 problem is as much a legal issue as it is an IT one. Commentators in the US are anticipating a tidal wave of litigation, as system failures leave businesses and consumers looking for someone to blame. They may be unable to do what they have contracted to, because of a year 2000 failure. Consequently, new contracts should be negotiated with this in mind. Suppliers are likely to be liable for providing non-compliant plant, machinery or software, if it was reasonable for the user to expect the system to last beyond 2000.
Many businesses outsource their IT work to contractors.
Taylor advises that companies check these relationships to make sure that they cover year 2000 problems, and check that they do not end, or could be terminated, before the start of the next millennium. According to Lawrence Graham's Jonathan Riley, the assumption that insurance policies will cover IT failures is a fallacy. Next year, it will be different. '1999,' he says, 'will be a year of crisis management.