Ohio - Dept of Admin Services, Dept of Mental Health - bugsgreenspun.com : LUSENET : Grassroots Information Coordination Center (GICC) : One Thread |
Most business computers ready for 2000Tuesday, January 04, 2000
FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
COLUMBUS - Businesses from the largest industries to the smallest shops faced the first work week of 2000 prepared for - but not expecting - the Y2K bug to surface.
Schools, banks, factories and other places of business opened yesterday after the holiday weekend and workers found conditions much the same as they did at home when 1999 clicked over to 2000 Saturday morning - no big deal.
"Everything's just fine," said Lenny Sarko, vice president of QuickNet Inc., a Columbus-based Internet provider with about 250 business customers. "Absolutely no issues."
The state's computers - with two minor exceptions - adapted fine to the new year. State officials spent $130 million to ensure a trouble-free transition. One system that malfunctioned is used to retrieve driving records and other information needed to title and register watercraft, Scott Johnson, director of the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, announced at a news conference yesterday. Still, the state was able to continue issuing boat licenses, he said. Employees simply telephoned the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to obtain the necessary data.
At the Department of Mental Health, state officials discovered problems with a computer used to track pharmaceutical sales. The problem was corrected, Johnson said, and did not disrupt state services. For the last two years, state officials have worked to update computer programs and spot any Y2K problems. Had the upgrades not occurred, Ohio would not have been able to process the state payroll, issue welfare checks or medical ID cards, pay unemployment benefits or issue driver's licenses, he said.
"All of those systems would have failed - all of them spectacularly," Johnson said.
The Air Force Materiel Command, with headquarters at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, reported several minor computer problems.
Source: Cleveland Live; Cleveland, Ohio
-- Lee Maloney (leemaloney@hotmail.com), January 17, 2000
Source of the article above: http://w ww.cleveland.com/news/pdnews/metro/o04gliu.ssf
-- Lee Maloney (leemaloney@hotmail.com), January 17, 2000.