Y2K testing proves tough

 

08/24/98

 

By RON SOUTHWICK

Staff Writer

 

 

PRINCETON BOROUGH -- It isn't that unusual for one of the world's most prestigious research universities to conduct rigorous testing.

 

But the tests going on at Princeton University right now aren't geared toward students -- although they could definitely be affected by the results.

 

The university is developing test simulations to see how its computer systems will react with data that includes dates with the year 2000.

 

The university is spending $4.5 million to deal with the year 2000 computer problem. Les Greenbaum, the university's Y2K project manager, was hired in March 1997 solely to work on the year 2000 glitch.

 

Greenbaum is overseeing the modifications of the university's business and administrative computer systems and software. All of the work, including the testing, should be finished by the spring of 1999, he said.

 

"We're seeing the light at the beginning of the tunnel," said Greenbaum.

 

The work touches everything from admissions to class registration and financial aid, Greenbaum said. The final program work for the admissions department was finished last Monday, said Greenbaum.

 

"It's running smoothly," Greenbaum said. "It was a good confidence builder."

 

The admissions department is the first of 17 to be finished. A total rewrite of the software programming was required and it's one of the university's larger departments. Greenbaum expects that half of the work on the administrative offices will be done by the end of the year.

 

The job has proven to be far more complex than he anticipated. Greenbaum was initially hired to essentially deal with a maintenance project, but it became a major task. It involves rewriting programs and making sure they can communicate with older systems that still aren't Y2K compliant.

 

"It was a totally different job," he said. "It was nothing anywhere near what I expected."

 

The university has changed an estimated 3 million lines of program coding, but Greenbaum said that is a useless barometer of the scope of the job.

 

THE HARD work isn't changing the programming, it's testing it.

 

"The bulk of the work is setting up the year 2000 environment and testing it," Greenbaum said.

 

He pointed to a study from the Gartner Group, a technology consultant in Connecticut, that initially said 30-35 percent of the Y2K preparations involved simply testing the changes. Those estimates have grown to 70 percent, he said.

 

Those tests include contingency plans to function if the systems fail in the year 2000.

 

Greenbaum oversees five university employees who are working on the changes. The university also has hired a consulting firm, Hexaware Technologies Inc. of India, to help produce the new software programs. HTI has consultants working in Princeton and in India.

 

Greenbaum described the $4.5 million budget as "bare-bones." While he said every project manager would like more money, the reality is that he must work within a budget, Greenbaum said.

 

He said he has communicated with other universities about their year 2000 preparations but said it is difficult to determine how other schools are faring compared to Princeton.

 

The schools that are making progress typically share information. Those that are behind are keeping quiet, he said.

 

Greenbaum credited the university with being aware of the year 2000 problem, but he said business and government have seemed slow to grasp the significance of the problem. Even last year, Greenbaum rarely heard the Y2K problem addressed in the media.

 

The problem in getting many to understand the serious nature of the Y2K bug also stems from the difficulty in showing people the benefits of dealing with it. There's no immediate sense of reward.

 

Greenbaum compares it to going to the dentist.

 

"He fixes the cavities, you look the same," he said.