Several vendors have warned that certain Unix operating systems, once thought immune to the Y2K problem, must be upgraded to compliant versions. The hardware itself, including routers, workstations, and communication technology, may also need to be upgraded or replaced. The financial services industry processes massive amounts of currency data using spreadsheets. Senior executives make key decisions using desktop systems. Salespeople manage customer databases using PCs.
Marketing departments recycle mainframe data to drive market research.
And the Internet has spawned countless new ways to deploy PCs in business-critical situations. Fixing distributed systems is easy. For the standalone computer user, finding, testing, and upgrading PC hardware and software may be just an annoyance. The situation for a firm running dozens of networks and thousands of PCs and operating in numerous physical locations is more problematic. The process of finding, assessing, and upgrading these environments could take years and require large, dedicated SWAT teams.