Countdown Y2K: Business Survival Planning for the Year 2000.

• Author: Bennett, James C.
• Position: Review

Will the world as we know it end when the year 2000 begins? Only 9 percent of the respondents in a recent Time/CNN poll believed this statement to be true. However, 59 percent were "somewhat/very concerned" about the Y2K problem, and, 59 percent also believed that "equipment with computers will fail." These concerns reveal why dozens of books and hundreds of articles have been written and why so many people are working feverishly to solve this turn-of-the-century problem called the millennium bug.

Since Y2K is truly an "information" problem, all information professionals should find Countdown Y2K- Business Survival Planning for the Year 2000 of special interest. This book is a complete update of 1997's Managing 00 and gives the reader valid insights regarding all aspects of this worldwide crisis. Although readers would have found the book valuable in the early planning for Y2K, it still offers significant value if one concentrates on the aspects that deal with survival: risk management and disaster recovery.

Authors Peter de Jager and Richard Bergeon are two of the most widely recognized experts on the Y2K problem. They write in a clear, easy-to-read style and give a realist's - as opposed to an alarmist's - view of the situation. Bergeron and de Jager consider the Y2K problem more of a management issue than a technical one.

The first section of Countdown Y2K deals effectively with the planning process. One of the first steps the authors suggest is to find, form, and coordinate a Y2K management team. This team must create an awareness of the Y2K situation throughout an organization. Unfortunately, the authors did not recognize the valuable role that an information professional could play on this team.

Chapter 4 asks "What if you've waited until now?" The authors believe that many procrastinators will not have enough time to make all systems Y2K-compliant, and will have to make three tough decisions:

* Which are the mission-critical services that must be available at all times to keep our company alive?

* Which services can we live without for awhile, perhaps forever?

* Which services are not really needed and would not be missed?

After making these decisions, actions must be taken to make sure that mission-critical services are Y2K compliant.

The last segments of the book cover the nuts and bolts of how...