Re: Year 2000 Disaster Recovery Plans

At 09:07 AM 3/13/99 -0500, you wrote:
>Colleagues,
>
>I have just been promoted to MIS Manager and one of the new projects that I
>have been given is to put together a Year 2000 contingency plan to continue
>operations in the event that the computer systems are non-functional on
>January 3, 2000. We just went though a general accounting audit by a new
>firm and one of the areas that they had exception with in MIS was the lack
>of this plan.
>
>How detailed are other companies being when putting together such plans? Do
>you base the plan on the fact that you have no computers at that time and
>devise completely manual systems? And what is the scope of this type of
>contingency plan? Do you plan for just a couple of days, a week, month, or
>indefinitely.
>
>We have already made our modifications to our software and tested it (as
>much as you can) to make it Y2k compliant. We've surveyed our vendors,
>customers, phone systems, plant machinery, and other office equipment and
>feel we are ready in those regards.
>
>As far as testing goes, I was wondering how other companies have handled
>testing. I know there are products out there that simulate dates and that
>sort of thing. Has anyone gone further with testing than using these types
>of programs. I too know that you can't just change the date on your system
>to 1/3/99 and work for a while, you can have all kinds of problems with
>doing that. I have considered renting a system (we run an AS/400), loading
>our software onto it and attempting to duplicate our environment as much as
>possible and then setting it's date forward, testing the software, then
>wiping the system clean. Anyone else done anything like this?
>
>I'm really looking for any information that you all are willing to share
>when it comes to preparing for the Year 2000.
>
>When I was the Sr. Programmer/Analyst, I worked on the Y2k fixes and was
>aware of the problems, but now that I am going to be a manager over that
>time, somehow it seems just a little more real and important to me.
>Everything is relative, you know.
>
>Thanks in advance,
>
>Mike Cornwell
>MIS Manager
>Colson Caster Corporation
>Jonesboro, Arkansas
>
>+---
Mike
I tend to look at  it this way:

You all did the  best possible Y2K job you  could for Colson Caster. How
much and the methods one tests by is driven from resources available and
how serious the Y2K deal is viewed within the organization. 

One  does audits, reviews, etc  as an additional measure to reduce risk [
a/k/a RisK Management]. The  second step here is: -  IF it gets through all
the  testing & audit/review  nets then the airbags  deploy in the form of
Contingency plans.

We don't take defensive driving classes because we plan to have an accident
but to decrease our odds during and better deal with such disasters, aid in
the survival of, and to benefit  for reduced points & /or  insurance premiums.

Personally,  I find the  time to plan for a problem is not as effective
during the problem. So I  vote Yes for contingency plans & reviews.  A
simple 3 step plan can be very helpful.  However if you can present "a no
need position" statement to your auditors- then fine. Either way  the
auditors are off the[legal/due diligence] hook suggesting  you to do this step
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