Laws of the Year 2000

 

© 1998, Peter de Jager & Phil Dodd

 

 

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The following "laws" have been observed by Peter and Phil, in numerous Year 2000 Projects around the world. There is a consistency in such projects that is "pan-cultural." The Year 2000 Crisis applies equally to all of us, in every company, in every organisation, no matter how large or small, in every country. For the first time in human history, between now and 2000, everyone will be doing the same thing, at the same time - this is unique and without precedent.

 

In the face of the irrefutable "Law of Supply & Demand" how will you address the issue?

 

Laws of the Year 2000:

 

 

1.The more you look, the more you find.

 

2.The more you find, the more it costs.

 

3.When management truly understands the problem, they make it their only priority.

 

4.Create understanding, and funding is a non-issue.

 

5.You will divert funds from critical projects to an even more critical project.

 

6.You cannot solve Y2K, you can only minimize the impact.

 

7.You cannot know what you do not know.

 

8.There is a cycle of "Awareness, Understanding and Action." Many people are AWARE, a lot UNDERSTAND, and most have taken ACTION. But only those who have acted realise the cycle is iterative.

 

9.Murphy's Y2K law - That which "can not fail," will.

 

10.Murphy's other Y2K law - That which is "compliant," isn't.

 

11.You can't really test this stuff until Jan 1st 2000.

 

12.The biggest risk? We don't know all the risks.

 

13.There is a finite speed at which one can spend money effectively.

 

14.Two digits are good --- four digits are better.

 

15.Only the Lone Ranger risks his client's safety on silver bullets.

 

16.Dates on the calendar are closer than they appear.

 

17.Testing is the only insurance worth buying.

 

18.Three things are certain in life, Death, Taxes and Y2K. Y2K will pass.

 

19.If you rest easy at night, you don't understand the problem.

 

20.Windowing is a temporary solution.

 

21.The closer the date, the higher the cost.

 

22.Don't fix everything, fix everything that matters.

 

23.May the source be with you.

 

24.A system of a thousand programs fails in a single line.

 

25.Planning for failure is better than failing to plan.

 

26.Delivering Year 2000 late is equivalent to never starting.

 

27.Denial is never a long term survival strategy.

 

28.Projects are never late by intention.

 

29.The more ingenious the fix, the higher the potential rate of errors.

 

30.Maintenance ain't "cool," it's just necessary.

 

31.Being pushed to the wall gives you the momentum to get over it.

 

32.Oops!

 

33.Fixing lines of code is simple, fixing integrated systems is not.

 

34.Fear of consequences is a great motivator.

 

35.The weakest link in the supply chain is in your supplier's system.

 

36.Chicken Little was an optimist.

 

37.Triage is a business decision, not a technical one.

 

38.You'll give your right arm not to do triage.

 

39.Your mission critical applications define your business.

 

40.The devil is in the details.

 

41.Two digit dates are always ambiguous.

 

42.Compliancy means never having to say you're sorry.

 

43.Process it any way you like, but accept and send only 4 digits.

 

44.It'll all happen again in 2100.

 

45.Pope Gregory wasn't a programmer.

 

46.COBOL was never dead, it was only resting.

 

47.If it ain't critical, it's trivial.

 

48.If you think you have tested sufficiently, think again

 

49.The Year 2000 Program is the ultimate scope creep project.

 

50.The only technology immune to the Year 2000 Problem is unconnected to a power source.

 

51.Maintenance is not a strategic activity. Y2K is!!