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This estimate sends a terrifying message. Australia is considered one of the more advanced nations in the y2k field.
The accompanying information shows that this estimate is wildly optimistic. Only 34% of firms have completed audits. When a firm is through with its audit (inventory), it has 98% of its project ahead of it, according to the California White Paper (See "Government").
This appeared in Australia's FINANCIAL REVIEW (Dec. 4). Title: "Time Is Against the Bug Killers."
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Only one-third of Australian organisations have a clear picture of the extent of the millennium bug problem, and up to 38 per cent will see computers crash as a result.
International research published yesterday by PA Consulting found that up to 38 per cent of Australian organisations could not expect to fix the millennium bug in time, and "it is likely that severe disruption to normal business operations will occur as a result".
That reinforces research published last month by Coopers & Lybrand which found that without changes, 47 per cent of Australia's computer systems will fail by 2000, with government systems among the most vulnerable. . . .
PA found that while 94 per cent of Australian and New Zealand line managers were aware of the millennium bug, only 62 per cent have a formal fix-it program, and just 34 per cent have completed audits to identify the scope of the problem. . . .
Even among the prepared, only 44 per cent have included embedded computer systems in their programs, so some automated equipment is likely to slip the net. . . .
Les Hosking, the chief executive of the Sydney Futures Exchange, had a taste of the future when the SFE began issuing 2000 contracts. He said that although the SFE systems handled the new contracts, the Chicago exchange experienced a few surprises, which he described as an "early warning of what might be expected come the new millennium".
"In world financial markets it only takes one major player to fall over for a global breakdown," he warned. "No-one is complacent about this."
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