COM 0623.000 1996-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CURRENT YEAR'S OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS A. YEAR 2000 Observation: The County will have significant problems adjusting the computer system for the year 2000. Background: Last year we recommended that high priority be given to implementing formal procedures to assess the County's computer systems' capability relating to rollforward into the year 2000. The Data Processing Division (DPD) has prepared afive-page report titled The Year 2000 Problem Status & General Plan, dated July 24, 1997, which addresses only applications running on the County's central Wang computer. It demonstrates recognition of the Year 2000 problem and provides a high ]evel progress report. However, the report contains insufficient information to evaluate the validity of its recommendations. For example, Page 3 of the report contains time estimates to assess and fix the applications running on the central Wang computer. The report contains insufficient detail to understand the method of calculating the individual estimates (i.e., lines of code, level of complexity, documentation, etc.). In addition, time estimates for fixing 12 of the 20 applications listed were left blank. Of the 12 applications mentioned above, the following eight significant applications have not yet been evaluated: Payroll, Accounting, Budget, Manual Warrants, Purchase Orders, Sewer Billing, Real Property Data Inquiry, and Library Catalog System. The following four applications are expected to be replaced before the year 2000: Senior Citizen Information, Land Use Inventory System, Planning Permit Tracking, and Council Information Index. Page 2 of the report states that the actual deadline to complete the overhaul is a moving target and depends on when the individual applications need to process Year 2000 dates. DPD should identify the specific applications it is referring to in this statement and the deadline for each application to be converted. Testing of the Year 2000 fixes is not specifically discussed in the report. A timeline and detailed test plan to ensure data and processing integrity should be included in the plan. For County departments that have other than Wang computer applications, DPD issued a memo to all departments with instructions to either contact their vendors regarding Year 2000 issues, or contact DPD for assistance. The following are only a few of the problems that could occur on January 1, 2000: Appllcatlon Potential Problem(s) Payroll The system could shut down and County employees would have to manually calculate and type paychecks for more than 2000 employees each pay period. The County would also have to manually compile information for all necessary State and Federal payroll forms and tax reports. Accounting The system could shut down and County employees would have to manually maintain all accounting records, prepare all warrants, and -3-