Server: Netscape-Enterprise/2.0a Date: Fri, 21 Nov 1997 04:31:11 GMT Accept-ranges: bytes Last-modified: Thu, 20 Nov 1997 01:17:34 GMT Content-length: 8181 Content-type: text/html The Year 2000 Problem
Year 2000 Solution Center

Problem GraphicYour mortgage payment is 100 years overdue. What have you been doing all this time?

When 1999 gives way to the year 2000, most computer applications developed over the past few decades are going to get very confused. And confused computers generally cause a lot of headaches for the rest of us.

Why the confusion? Because these applications have historically employed the "mm/dd/yy" standard to store date information — initially to save memory, and later for the sake of consistency. When the year 2000 arrives, the year field in these applications will change from "99" to "00." The problem? The applications make no allowance for identifying century markers—the "19" in 1997 or the "20" in 2001. Results can range from incorrect date sorting (marking 1/1/00 as occurring before 12/31/99) to complete system failure.

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For example, will your bank label "past due" a loan payable on January 1, 2000? Will your billing system fail to produce invoices on time? Will your business go belly up when your computer can’t read dates ending in double zeroes?

It may seem simple enough to add a century date indicator -- "mm/dd/yyyy." The complexity arises from the sheer number of lines of code that will be directly and indirectly affected in a typical company's systems, and the difficulty in restoring that code without disrupting daily operations. This problem will impact every enterprise that relies on date-related calculations and recordkeeping, from financial institutions and government agencies to utilities and insurance firms to credit card companies and more.

CACI White Papers on Year 2000

Year 2000 Testing, Hoyt Warren, Director, Millennium Reengineering Division

Process Process Process!!!, Robin Kane, Vice President, Integrated Information Systems

The Millennium Mess, Hoyt Warren, Director, Millennium Reengineering Division

Links to background articles

Testing For 2000, Information Week

Fix for U.S. Government Computers Jumps $1 Billion, Reuters

Resources Key To Year 2000 Answer, Internet Week

Testing Pressure Mounts, Information Week

U.S. Agencies Seen Failing in Year 2000 Readiness, Reuters

Will Your Systems Survive the Year 2000?, CIO Magazine


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