Date code is nearly A-OK
NASA is ready to declare success on the year 2000 front.
NASA is ready to declare success on the year 2000 front.
The agency has completed the renovation, testing and implementation of its 150 mission-critical systems. But NASA still has to implement one or two of its 300 non-mission-critical systems, said Lee B. Holcomb, NASA chief information officer.
'I'm feeling very good in this area,' Holcomb said. 'It's been our highest priority. I think we're ready to declare success, but we have to wait until the year turns over. That will be our real measure of success.'
NASA has finished the third version of its business continuity plan for the date code change. The agency has also developed a comprehensive Day 1 strategy, Holcomb said.
&%#8226;NASA's Acquisition Internet Service at Goddard and Ames have chosen the Integrated Messaging Exchange system from Tumbleweed Communications Corp. of Redwood City, Calif., to make the agency's request for proposals process more efficient.
IME is a paperless system that leverages the Internet and existing e-mail for receiving and tracking the thousands of bidder responses to requests for proposals.
The system provides security, trackability and control so that NASA's procurement officers can navigate and manage the thousands of RFPs they receive each year, said Bob Brummett, Ames business systems manager.
'Bringing our business processes online without sacrificing security and control is one of our significant goals at NASA,' Brummett said.
&%#8226;NASA's Ames Research Center has rolled out a pilot project to provide Unix workstation and Mac users with an interface for Microsoft Windows. The project will reduce the total cost of hardware ownership, officials said.
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The Moffett Field, Calif., center uses Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition, so its Unix and Mac users can access Microsoft Office applications from one PC.
'With Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition, users can transparently run Windows applications on the client machine of their choice, from Macs to Sun to Silicon Graphics workstations, eliminating the need for multiple desktop boxes,' said Thomas Chimento, chief systems administrator for Recom Technologies Inc. of Roseville, Calif., the project's contractor.
Some Ames scientists have three computers in their offices, using one for e-mail and another to create speadsheets. Fewer machines equal lower total cost of ownership, Chimento said.
Ames is in the fourth month of an eight-month pilot. To date, the center has about 50 users up and running on the app, he said.
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