[Part 1 of 3] 16 Point Y2K Supplier's Interrogation

["Milt Habeck" <mhabeck@xxxxxxxxxx>]

This is part 1 of a 3 part message. The entire message exceeds the 10K character limit on the BPCS-List.

 

 

 

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There has been no shortage of strong discussion on the Y2K repair subject during the last few days ... and, quite candidly ... I think that Mr. Devin Bowen's view (expressed in his note at bottom of part 3) has a great deal of merit. 

 

Our company has considered how we could make a useful contribution to the discussion in harmony with Devin Bowen's advice to contact the competing suppliers directly to ask about pros and cons. 

 

So, if you have an interest in reading further, we'll attempt to make that contribution in the form of a 16-point "Y2K Suppliers' Interrogation."  This is a list of questions which a non-compliant BPCS enterprise could consider asking if they are in the Y2K repair market. We've made the questions applicable for all versions of BPCS ... even System/36 code with custom COBOL bolt-ons running on System/36 equipment (we've received calls from companies that are still using BPCS software from that era).

 

 

1.  Does the supplier's tool/process repair these code types:  

 

      a. System/36 ?

      b. RPGLE ?

      c. AS/SET action diagrams (that is, directly in the AS/SET code) ?

      d. COBOL ?  (yes, we've even seen several thousand CBL36 programs!)

      e. Query definitions ?

      f.  RPG38 with internally defined files ? ( yes, we've seen it! )

 

 

2.  Does the supplier's tool/process repair dates in data areas ?

 

3.  Does the process include a tool which performs a pre-repair source/object inventory that helps users find misplaced source code?

 

4.  Are 100% of the repairs performed on either the client box or the supplier box?

 

5.  Is date field and/or source code content information "learned" from previous BPCS repair jobs saved electronically and then re-used for subsequent repair clients using that same version of BPCS?

 

6.  If the answer to #5 is yes:

 

      a. Does non-vanilla BPCS code (or home-grown code) make the repair process more complicated, costly, or time-consuming?

 

      b.  If the answer to #5 is yes, does the supplier have a license to use or have permission to use this intellectual property?

 

 

>>>   see part 2 for additional questions (7-16)  <<<<<