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March, 1997, testimony before the House Subcommittee on Technology got to the point: the problem is software. Some 55% of all large-scale mainframe computer systems are less than two years old, but this does not solve the y2k problem. The data stored in the noncompliant system cannot be ported to the new system. The data must be reformatted. There is not enough time to do this now.
Bruce Hall of the Gartner Group warned: over half of all organizations that must correct their software will not finish the job on time.
He also warned: 1999 will be the year that many systems begin failing. Their programs must deal with 2000, but will not be able to.
Complex computer programs cannot be replaced by some off-the-shelf program that you can buy at the local discount electronics store. The public does not understand this.
The lifeblood of every large business -- its data base -- is locked into a system that doomed. The problem is this: How to get information out of the old system in time to save it? There is no answer for this question at this late date.
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