That transfer took place with the assistance of technicians from the company which is providing the RVA, MSI System Integrators of St. Louis. Simply put, computer programs were designed to display, store and manipulate dates using the last two digits of the year rather than all four digits. Since all computer hardware, microchips and most software programs store and use dates, or calculate intervals between dates, they are susceptible to Y2K problems. As such, the problem extends well beyond the University's mainframe computer facility. It encompasses our network operations and every workstation, server and software program in use on the campus.
Embedded systems are computer chips programmed to perform a fixed set of tasks.
They are used in literally thousands of dedicated applications like heating, ventilation and air conditioning, elevators, measuring and monitoring devices, industrial equipment, cameras, FAX machines, copiers, answering machines, and so on. Y2K will have an impact on the university. How much of an impact it will have on departmental operations needs to be determined by each department. Information Technology Services will ensure that the centralized systems and services for which they are responsible are Y2K compliant. Likewise, Facilities Planning and Management will ensure that the embedded systems for which they are responsible are Y2K compliant.