The struggling Asian economies are occupied with improving their real productivity and are not inclined to divert attention to fixing the millennium bug, which is after all an economically non-productive activity. In Europe, where conversion to Euro will take effect in less than 100 days, not all organizations within the EU member states can afford to address Year 2000, which is still more than 450 days away. The growing concern has pushed up the demand for Y2K experts. Following the laws of demand and supply, the prices for these scarce talents are escalating. Nobody can guarantee that date fixes will work.
Software never comes with a guarantee - it comes with a service contract.
Mili Lewis, British Telecom Price Waterhouse has projected a sixfold increase in the salary cost per line of converted code over the period 1996-2000. Expert-strapped countries face an even bigger bill because they are hiring expatriate professionals. Given the interdependent nature of telecommunications networks, operators that hold a pessimistic perspective see investment in Y2K as a futile endeavor, believing that some other carriers will not undertake adequate preparations, making disruptions unavoidable. These barriers to action must be addressed without delay. However, traditional multinational negotiations would take too long.