The continued effective, efficient operation of these enterprises is critical not only to the well being and safety of the public but also to the health of the economies they support. I have gone back to many of the folks we have interviewed and asked for an update concerning their area of expertise and perhaps more importantly asked their perspective on the progress over time that they perceive. Finally Tony and I have made a special effort to discuss the current Y2K situation with an open mind and willingness to change our point of view. We have agreed to challenge each other's assumptions and perspective. Before I can respond to that we need to consider the context in which we view the various pieces of information.
Progress is relative.
In a non-time bound situation the Y2K issue would have been treated differently. The first phase would have been assessment. While there are no formulas that I am aware of, the typical assessment consists of a short, initial assessment that results in an estimate of the more detailed assessment that will be required to produce a meaningful project plan. A structured awareness campaign might be launched during the detailed assessment phase to bring all key people up to speed on their expected role. Typically this first phase is not time-constrained and takes as long as it takes to fully assess the situation.