New attitudes, habits can help fight Millennium Bug, experts say

By JEREMY MANIER / Chicago Tribune

In many ways, the Millennium Bug is nothing more than a jumbo version of the routine computer crashes and network failures that have become a hated hallmark of corporate life.

Moreover, experts say, the reason many companies are slow to react to the year 2000 crisis is the same one that keeps computer failures about as common as coffee breaks.

The problem goes beyond technology. It's about attitude.

From prejudices deeply ingrained in the corporate culture down to hard-to-shake habits of employees, experts say the way businesses think about technology hurts them when it comes to reacting to problems.

Part of the reason is the so-called "CIO-CEO disconnect." When a company's chief information officer has no direct relationship with its chief executive officer, they say, only a disaster captures the leadership's attention.

Sears, Roebuck and Co. spokeswoman Jan Drummond said many CIOs report to the chief financial officer, and thus have only an indirect voice in the boardroom. She said the brass at Sears realized that technology could make or break the company.

"Our CIO, Joseph Smialowski, is a senior vice president and a member of the executive committee," she said. "We have senior management that understands how critical information systems are for us."

Rob Figliulo, of Oak Brook, Ill.-based Millennium Bug zapper SPR Inc., said: "Some CEOs used to say, 'I'll be retired by 2000. Why should I worry?' I bet a lot of those people wish they'd fixed the pension system before they left."

Workers at the rank-and-file level also must understand that they can exacerbate the Millennium Bug problem with sloppy habits, Figliulo said. Poor design in a spreadsheet, for example, can ripple through a company.

Avoiding such mistakes is tough for employees who are set in their ways, said Helmut Epp of DePaul University, but the accumulation of the right worker habits will make computers more reliable.

"It took a long time for a maintenance culture to grow around the airplane industry to the point where people felt safe flying," he said.

The same kind of culture is largely in place for computers, according to Epp, dean of the School of Computer Science, Telecommunications and Information Services:

"Most mainframes are now so secure that people can bet their businesses on them."