If you haven’t even
made a list of the things that you need to have operational in the New Year,
do it now!
Make sure that you
take a full backup of your system before you finish for your Christmas break.
Run verifications of the data to make sure that it has been backed up onto
the tape and that it can be read back.
Try to locate a system
with a similar backup system so that your data is recoverable even if your
computer isn’t.
Print out any key information
that you will need to keep your business functioning in the first week of
so of the New Year. This might include Works Orders, Overdue Debt List,
Stock Lists etc.
Make sure that all
computers are shut down and left off over the New Year break. The commonest
cause of incorrect dates in January will probably be the failure of systems
to ‘roll-over’ to the new millennium. Most computers will accept and retain
the new date if it is entered manually after January 1st.
For the brave, and
those who don’t want an apprehensive Christmas, you could try to run the
New Year’s Eve before Christmas. MAKE SURE that you only do this after you
have taken all other precautions – especially backup – and you are ready
to close for Christmas. (Please note that if you’ve had a pre-Christmas
drink or two, this step is not recommended for you.) If you are determined
to go ahead, reset the dates on all of your computers to about 11:55 pm
on December 31st, 1999 and switch them off. Wait at least 5 minutes
and switch them on again. If they all read January 1st, 2000
then you can go home and leave the date resetting until after the New Year.
If the date hasn’t changed correctly, you’ve now got all Christmas to worry
about your problems.
Assuming that you decided
not to risk the previous experiment, we recommend that you switch on and
check your systems before the first working day after the New Year.
Yes, this will mean working on a Sunday or Bank Holiday! If you must leave
this job until the start of the first working day, make sure that everyone
understands that they mustn’t use the computer system until you have checked
it out.
All the hardware working
fine? Good. Now you only have to worry about the software. If you are running
Windows and Microsoft Office then there are Year 2000 updates that can be
run from CD. If you’re running Sage software then you ought to be on a Year
2000 compliant version anyway. If not ,call us. Bespoke software and lesser-known
products may give you more of a problem, but the chances are that you will
have recognised this anyway and taken action accordingly.
Now, even if your software
is compliant you could have problems if the dates have been entered in the
system in a non-compliant way – for example if they have been entered as
text fields, or used in reference numbers. You’re really on your own resources
here because no-one else knows your data. We have already seen examples
of non-compliant systems that have failed before the Millennium and there
will be plenty more afterwards. Try to set up some independent manual checks
that will highlight any problems.
Lastly, now that you
have ensured that your system is compliant, just keep on your toes because
someone, somewhere will cause problems because their system isn’t – and
they may be your customer or your supplier!