This would not be happening ... if John Koskinen were still alive.

-- curtis schalek (schale1@ibm.net), December 08, 1998

Answers

??Who???

-- Filterlady (Filterlady@aol.com), December 09, 1998.

You mean you think Koskinen arranged for SF power to go out while he was there last Thursday spouting those now-infamous govt. project plans?

-- lisa (huh@what?.com), December 09, 1998.

AAAaaaaa, another DGI hired to head up the Effort!

Pity the state of Louisiana, where New Orleans is. New Orleans sits BELOW sea level and is maintained ONLY by electrical pumps getting rid of that water gushing down into the Bowl that is New Orleans. And they have hurricanes there. Move, Nola folks, fast!

http://www.theadvocate.com/business/story.asp?StoryID=690

La. agencies told to prepare now for year 2000 problems

By TED GRIGGS, Advocate business writer

Louisiana agencies must prepare now so they can handle the problems created when Jan. 1, 2000, arrives, the states Y2K project officer said Tuesday.

"Its not too late to start, but if we dont get started now, it will be too late to finish," management consultant Chris LeBlanc told the 150 state workers present at a contingency planning seminar.

LeBlanc recommended state agencies follow the guidelines developed by the U.S. governments General Accounting Office so the entire state can have a uniform approach.

The GAO breaks the process into four phases:

* Initiation, where the planning team is set and the agency decides what its most critical functions and services are.

* Business impact analysis. The planners figure out what they need to provide the minimum level of service acceptable and how services will be affected by computer problems inside and outside the agency.

* Contingency planning. Teams analyze cost-to-benefits ratios for solutions and document the plan.

* Testing. The teams test their plans, then update and retest them.

Figuring out what to plan for is one of the most difficult tasks in preparing a contingency plan, LeBlanc said.

"We cant reasonably hope that all the Y2K problems will be found and fixed," she said. "And there are a wide range of possible consequences."

State agencies begin reporting the status of their Year 2000 compliance efforts later this month, LeBlanc said.

Raj Jindal, assistant secretary of the Office of Occupational Information at the state Department of Labor, said contingency planning is expensive.

An agencys management has to understand that resources must be dedicated to preparing for Year 2000 problems, even if it turns out the resources arent needed, Jindal said.

Some solutions may be simple, Jindal said. If the agency cant print paychecks after Jan. 1, 2000, three or four checks can be cut in advance and adjustments for overtime can be made later.

-------------- Does this article strike anyone else as, um, could they really be that behind and stupid throughout the whole state?

xxxxxxx xxxxxxx

-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), December 10, 1998.