In some relevant computer specialties, the most talented technicians are already booked and committed to Year 2000 remediation. Any firm that has not yet developed a plan of action might pay a heavy price for procrastination. Depending upon their needs, they may find that help is unavailable at any price. For banks, Y2K poses challenges of unprecedented urgency and complexity. Because the banking industry was among the first to adopt computer automation, banks today may well have more applications running simultaneously than any sector of the economy.
Some big banks run thousands of applications, some superimposed on top of one another.
Many have millions of lines of code, which have to be read to find which ones need modification. Many experts tell us that the testing process will be the most difficult part of the whole process, because the fix adopted for one system may not be compatible with the fix adopted for another. In addition, bankers have many things to worry about aside from getting their own houses in order. As you well know, today's world of financial services is intensely competitive. Bankers who are slow to solve the Y2K problem not only run operational risks, they invite predatory competitors who may be further along in the Y2K renovation process and will advertize that fact.