Systems managers recount tales from the code trenches

'What have you encountered in your year 2000 work that you didn't expect, and how did you handle it?BLEVINS: Many of these systems had been mitigated four or five years ago. But detailed test data from several years ago wasn't kept because it was so long ago. Unless you have somebody who's going to be there through the whole process, you're going to be vulnerable. We had some system assessments from several years ago that proved untrue. So you really need scrutiny.DIAZ: I think one of the things we didn't expect was finding as many systems as we did in different areas of the airport. Secondly, I think prior to my arrival in January, was a failure to recognize that to solve the year 2000 problem at an airport, you need not only technical expertise but also expertise in airport operations and management'specifically, knowledge of what systems the airport is required to operate and maintain, and what systems are a direct responsibility of the airlines, as outlined in Federal Aviation Administration regulations. The scope ended up being much wider than the scope put together by the original team.We are responsible for systems that control airfield lighting, employee badge security, restricted access area security, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and electrical power for both terminal processes and initial airplane power-up. We also have to make sure vendors, such as airlines and fuel suppliers, are ready.HARTMAN: The way it sort of takes over everything around you. Back in January, my group said, 'All right, we'll fix the lines of code and change the programs.' Then suddenly, it took on a life of its own and went up the ranks through management to the commissioner's level and began to take on a much broader meaning. Now it's, 'Do you have a contingency plan for your contingency plan?' and 'What about pacemakers? They have computer chips.'We have different agencies that come check our progress. They'll ask how we tested our Cobol code'did we write down testing procedure beforehand, did we print reports, are they on single- or double-sided pages? If we did single-sided, they may need double-sided. It's agonizing, but we're trying to be as cooperative as possible, so we write everything over again. A normal person would think this is odd, but now we're inured to it. If we've tested something three ways and we're asked to test it a fourth way, we'll do it'this is how much it's taken over everybody's hearts, minds and souls.NATERA: We haven't encountered any problems. We have a Unisys NX5800 mainframe that holds all of the citywide applications for police, fire, finance and many other things. What we've done so far is convert all the data fields from six to eight to carry the century. So we really haven't found any problems. We are currently undergoing testing to see how the computer will behave.ROBINSON: The only curve that was thrown was that there really weren't any curves thrown. I did find that younger people were fairly accepting of the year 2000 issue. Older folks are a little more scared, the ones who went through the Depression.SIFFERLEN: We really haven't had any. We're a small agency of about 35 people and several divisions that administers state and federal public safety grants. About two years ago, we upgraded to Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 and Windows 95. Everyone's connected to the same server, and we're all running Microsoft Office 97. There are no special or older databases involved that we had to fix. We have all corporate industry downloads in place in time, so unless Bill Gates is lying to all of us, we plan on being fine.STEINBRUEGGE: One problem was getting the department to understand that year 2000 was about more than information systems. Once we got all that rolling, it made life a lot easier. Getting over that hump was the hard part.The other hurdle was that everybody else just looked at the applications. I've been working on the infrastructure and our frame relay network. We found out that part of that wasn't ready. We had to look at the operating systems, the database managers and the utilities associated with all this. We spent a lot of time in the client-server world, checking the NetBIOS chips and the continuing service packs from Microsoft.My contention has been that if the infrastructure doesn't work, nothing works. I took a holistic view, which I guess came from 35 years in the business.WESTBROOK: The embedded systems, embedded chips'I hadn't really given it any thought until later on. We hired a company to crawl around in all the county offices and inventory all the equipment anybody thought had a possibility of a problem and run it through their database and come back with a certification or a failure. We inventoried about 500 pieces of equipment, and we ended up submitting 175 types of equipment to this company's database. We've already gotten back 110 that are fully compliant and 10 that aren't. We're also worried about things like generators, security systems. We have a wastewater treatment plant, and it has so much equipment in there, we've hired a consultant to go in and inventory it.'How are you planning for contingencies, and how do you think it will go?STEINBRUEGGE: Our Governor's Council on Year 2000 is working with state agencies. We're working with our public service commission, the people who regulate water, utilities and banks. We don't see any big showstoppers. We don't see the world coming to an end.'What is an example of one of your contingency plans?WESTBROOK: We issue building permits, and we're simply going to have available in reports the permits that have been issued and are still active, and we'll have the forms available for people to issue a permit manually. That will back up an application from Hansen Information Technologies Inc. of Sacramento, Calif. The app holds data in an Oracle Corp. database running on a Unix server that users access through Windows.'What have you learned from your year 2000 experiences?BLEVINS: I found out that when we need to, we can go into break-fix mode very quickly. That's the mode people will be in right after year 2000 hits. When something breaks, you have to immediately go in there and fix it.ROBINSON: Concentrate on the big picture. Don't sweat the small stuff. We're not going to go check every light switch or thermostat. We can operate a lot of things manually.We'll have almost three days of full water storage in reservoirs all through town. And if the electricity goes out, it actually will be helpful for water conservation. Without electricity, water use is cut to less than half the normal amount. You can't run a washing machine or dishwasher without electricity, and most people don't like to take showers in the dark.'Once year 2000 is out of the way, what do you want to focus on most?DIAZ: One of the systems we plan to upgrade is our financial accounting system. We have purchased Sun Microsystems 3500 and 5500 servers and are working with Oracle to upgrade our financial accounting system here at the airport. Our revenue control system, which tracks transactions in the parking system, will be replaced and integrated into this system. One of the benefits of the Y2K effort has really been to focus our attention on the need in some cases to upgrade systems and in others to fully replace them.WESTBROOK: We've got some specific business issues that are of great concern to us, things such as collecting data at the point of origin by getting handheld field devices to county workers. Cops have them now, but inspectors and other people who do work in the field should have them, too. We're also looking to make further use of the Internet to make information available to people and let people do county business through the Internet.'Is there something about year 2000 you haven't seen covered by the press that you would like to know more about?WESTBROOK: I'm listening constantly because I'm always learning. I think this ground is getting covered fairly well. My main concern at this point is public perception. I suspect that there will be some small issues, some inconvenience issues that will occur. I want people to understand that these things are going to happen and that they'll be corrected quickly and not to assume the worst.'Where will you be on New Year's Eve?