Here it is folks. The long awaited RAY! Associates report.

The link is:

http://www.dpuc.state.ct.us/draftdec.nsf/6fe094d5f95a0bad85256448006902a0?OpenView Click on Y2K Report

The report is in MSWORD.

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

Answers

Link

Sorry about that.

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

How long have you guys been waiting for this. What a piece of legalese. Yecch! The entire document should be nominated to Duh 2000. You should ask for your money back from the consultants who did this.

============================================================= Here's a really firm statement:

"Readiness should be achieved if the companies meet their test plan goals and project plan schedules in a timely manner."

============================================================ How many is minimal? Define "if any".

"Each company asserts that its essential service operations have minimal, if any, date sensitive components and each is confident of its ability to provide continued service. "

==================================================================== Lot's to be done yet, so the companies should focus on doing it. Duh.

"Due to the time constraints and the amount of work yet to be completed, senior management must continue to focus on the remaining tasks, including those associated with the Y2K readiness of critical suppliers and service providers."

All right CT. Sit back and relax:

"As of May 14, 1999, no company has completed their Y2K activities."

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

Thanks, Steve, for providing this! I'll add some other parts of this report to those Jim has posted:

"Integrated, live tests of operating environments with Y2K date changes and contingent situations are lacking."

"Deregulated business units, if not Y2K ready, can impact the ability of the regulated entity to provide essential core services."

"Limited sharing of information among the utilities has taken place although it has increased recently."

"State and municipal entities have had minimal involvement with the utilities."

"Staffing and time remaining for Y2K could be a potential problem due to competing demands from mergers, acquisitions, deregulation, and unbundling."

"There are devices in the nuclear plants that must be replaced for the plants to be Y2K ready."

"Formal documented contingency plans are being prepared. No company has completed the preparation of their Y2K contingency plans. Only minimal coordination exists with the various municipalities and the state."

And under Y2K Process Recommendations:

"Companies need to continue to emphasize management of changes during their respective stabilization periods in order to minimize further risk."

"The impact of regulatory and legislative changes during the stabilization period needs to be carefully evaluated."

"Senior management of the deregulated business units need to ensure timely completion of mission critical applications."

Under Service Continuation Recommendations:

"All remaining Y2K activities must be pursued with an increased sense of urgency." [If everything is proceeding well, why this particular recommendation?]

"Customer Service Center back-up plans need to be reinforced. Specifically, the ability to switch to alternative customer service sites and provision of telecommunications need to be considered by all companies."

"Outstanding Y2K readiness issues with critical suppliers and service providers must be resolved."

"More formal communication and sharing of information among the utilities is encouraged at this time. Consideration should be given to conducting some joint planning sessions."

"Additional integrated end-to-end testing of date change and contingency situations should be considered on critical processes in their actual environments."

Part of the Conclusions section, after the optimistic can-be-achieved-if lines:

"Remaining high priority items related to service, safety, and significant financial impacts, have been identified and must receive close attention. The time remaining does not allow for major slippage or rework."

"A significant amount of work has been done and yet still more is to be completed, especially in the area of testing which is essential to ascertain Y2K readiness. Each company is at various levels of Y2K readiness based on their particular environment. Some companies are stretching their resources due to other major projects that need to be completed at the same time."

Final summary:

"The potential exists for Y2K problems with each company, but based on our analysis of the data available and each of the companys plans in addressing this issue, the steps being taken are adequate to achieve Y2K readiness. The contingency plans now being developed are an effective method of planning for the situations that might be encountered regardless of all of the preparations."

I didn't have time to review the Company-specific parts of the Ray! Associates audit, Steve, but I look forward to doing so. Certainly anyone living in Connecticut should read the details of this report carefully.

-- Anonymous, June 10, 1999

I participated in the President's "Community Conversation On Y2K" at Trinity College in Hartford, CT on Monday June 7, 1999. I sat directly across from John Koskinen. I asked why the deadlines are always slipping and in particular mentioned RAY! Associates. Low and behold two days later, the report was made public. The original deadline for the report was May 1, 1999.

What I got out of RAY! Associates report is:

"It's the testing stupid"

Of course we all know that don't we?

-- Anonymous, June 10, 1999

Thanks for keeping an eye out for this, Steve. At first glance, it does appear that there is no longer any margin of error for alot of these companies. As an IS guy, I find that extremely scary.

Time for a comfy chair and my reading glasses...

-- Anonymous, June 10, 1999

Lewis:

Thank you for sending me that email.

-- Anonymous, June 10, 1999