Book details of 'The Year 2000 Problem Solver: A Five-Step Disaster Prevention Plan'

Title	The Year 2000 Problem Solver: A Five-Step Disaster Prevention Plan
Author(s)	Bryce Ragland
ISBN	007052517X
Language	English
Published	January 1997
Publisher	Computing McGraw-Hill

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Reviewer amazon.com wrote:
The Year 2000 Problem Solver provides a five-step plan for technical managers who are in charge of fixing year 2000 problems. The awareness step offers tips for technical staff on how to communicate the problem to management--a critical part of any year 2000 strategy. The assessment step helps you determine the best strategy for solving the problem, and the renovation step gets you started in the execution of your strategy. The validation step walks you through the testing and quality assurance phase, while the implementation step helps you assess how your company's system interfaces with other systems. Over half of the book is dedicated to listing contact information for vendors who provide year 2000 solutions.
Reviewer Rob Slade wrote:
In order to conserve memory or storage space, or simply for ease of data entry, many programs have been coded to use only the last two digits of the year when dealing with dates. The year 2000 will see the first time in the history of computers when the dates will cross from one century into another. Programs calculating time based on only the two digit year field will give erroneous results, with consequences of varying severity. In its simplest form, that is the year 2000 problem. (For many of the same reasons that led to the problem in the first place, most techies refer to it as Y2K.) The year 2000 problem is not, actually, a single problem, but a whole pile of related troubles, with results that are unpredictable until you start examining them in detail. Ragland's review of the situation covers a great deal of territory. He correctly presents Y2K as first and foremost a management issue. The technical work, while arduous and tedious, is not sophisticated. He notes that while the problem resides in programming, it will show up mostly in data corruption. The book looks at a number of both common and unusual concerns, including the often cited case of bank interest, and the less recognized use of December 31, 1999 in "keep until" fields to mean "retain forever." The book text actually comprises less than half of the pages in this work. The appendices are longer, most providing contact information and brief annotations for configuration management tools, service vendors, analysis tools, conversion tools, validation tools, and other resources. Ragland starts with a precis and some examples of the problem. He then looks at the corporate view, examining management, costs (including legal), leap year, and data. A five-step approach is proposed to deal with Y2K, including awareness, assessment, renovation, validation, and implementation. (Readers may be forgiven for thinking that this plan bears a striking resemblance to any maintenance situation.) Two chapters purport to cover the small business and home office. Ragland's background in military and government systems is clearly in evidence. Not only is there a definite emphasis on large systems, but many non-governmental readers may be confused by the frequent use of jargon such as COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf). (Corporate readers might best interpret this term as a reference to PCs, routers, or other "shrink wrapped" items.) While desktop workstations do get mentioned, Ragland seems to see system software as the only potential trouble spot. Different sliding windows in applications software, macros that may or may not use provided date functions, and even the fact that many spreadsheets handle February 29th incorrectly in an attempt to be "bug for bug" compatible with old versions of Lotus 1-2-3 are ignored. Advice on dealing with PCs is simplistic almost to the point of insult, and is no help to concerned users. While coverage is broad, there are definite gaps. This is the more disappointing when you note how much material is repetitive or redundant. The organization of material is also sometimes confusing. Why, for example, does an anecdote pointing out the scope of the problem come in chapter ten under the heading of "Validation," rather than in the initial chapter with other examples, or in the chapters on "Awareness" or "Assessment." Many of the explanations and examples could have been much clearer, and while the appendices are undoubtedly valuable, the annotated descriptions of tools seldom provide a thorough understanding of what the product can do for you. (One suggestion that I must take exception to advises explaining Y2K as a virus problem. True, Ragland admits that the year 2000 problem *isn't* a virus, but anyone who "understands" Y2K explained as a virus really has no idea of either concept.) This work does have serious drawbacks as a guide to dealing with the year 2000 issue. On the other hand, it has great value as a resource both in explaining the situation to management, and in providing contact information for tools and other sources of assistance. Given both the specialized nature and short duration of Y2K, it is unrealistic to expect deathless technical prose, and this is definitely "good enough." copyright Robert M. Slade, 1997
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