Is it too late for companies that have done little or nothing with regard to the Y2k PC problem?
The answer is no — but don’t delay. Geoff Marshall reports on the issues and some of the Y2k vendors who are looking forward to more business next year

If you have not yet prepared for the Y2k problem, it is not too late. Companies can still protect their business, but they must act now, using comprehensive diagnostic and remediation tools. The Y2k problem is not just about the 1st January 2000. It will be with us for years to come in the form of old files containing poorly formatted date data.

The five-layer model
Companies must deploy a tool that checks all five layers of the PC problem: hardware (BIOS); operating system; software program; user data; and data sharing. Each layer must be checked; users cannot check any one layer in isolation. As every PC must be checked, it is crucial that a tool is used which can be rolled out across the network in a timely and efficient manner.
With less than 120 days to go until the 1st January 2000, the Y2k PC problem is not just a question of being ‘compliant’; it is about assessing the risk that it poses to individual businesses and then managing that risk. Deploying a comprehensive tool now enables users to ascertain which of their mission-critical applications are running on which PCs. Armed with this knowledge, business decisions can then be made as to which applications must be remediated to ensure that a company’s essential business processes continue to run smoothly into the next Millennium.

Corrupt dates
Date dependency problems are already occurring and will continue to do so after the beginning of the new year. Companies must continually monitor their Y2k status to ensure they maintain a ‘clean’ network.
Dates are entered all the time on PCs connected to the network, users share data via e-mail, from the Internet, floppy disks, etc. The risk of ‘re-infection’ of a ‘clean’ network from non-compliant data is continual. Y2k-checking software can be scheduled to run time after time to ensure that the integrity of a company’s data is maintained and therefore the company’s IT infrastructure remains compliant.
The necessity to protect the integrity of a company’s data must be understood by those who have begun or who have completed their Y2k projects. They must understand the necessity of protecting their Y2k status, and the investment that they have made in Y2k remediation projects.

Don’t lose control
One of the lessons learnt from the Y2k PC problem is that organisations have lost control of the PC environment. Some large corporate customers have no idea how many PCs they have, or their estimations are widely out, let alone what operating system or software programs they are running, or what they are used for. The Y2k problem is a symptom; the future for all organisations is addressing the cause — the lack of control at the desktop.

GMT Check 2000
Greenwich Mean Time’s Check 2000 Client Server identifies potential Y2k-related issues at the desktop and recommends appropriate fixes. The product checks all five layers of the PC and fixes BIOS problems, tests the operating system and software programs, scans user data files (drilling down to individual spreadsheet date cells), and flags data sharing issues.
Novell and Greenwich Mean Time partnered in August 1998 to help Novell customers manage the potential threat posed by the Y2k PC problem. Check 2000 is bundled with Novell’s directory-based desktop management solution, ZENworks, allowing users to assess and remedy Y2k problems from a central console. ZENworks provides network managers with the ability to deploy Check 2000 to all desktops on the network. When Check 2000 identifies potential problems and recommends fixes, ZENworks can be used to deploy Y2k-ready applications, upgrades or patches.

DataCop
Greenwich Mean Time has also developed Data Cop, a product which is the first step to solving the loss of control problem. DataCop prevents the unprotected use, sharing and spread of incorrect dates. DataCop’s Data Corrector provides a quick way of cleaning up incorrect dates. Operating much like a spell checker, Data Corrector allows users to fix the incorrect data on their own PCs. Network administrators can configure the ‘data dictionary’ at the heart of Data Corrector to ensure adherence to the company standard. Having corrected bad data, DataCop then provides continuous clean management monitoring at every desktop. Sitting between each user and the outside world, DataCop functions as a ‘data firewall’ to protect your corporate network from attacks on date data. Taking protection to an even higher level, DataCop incorporates an intelligent agent that e-mails the network administrator when persistent data offenders are identified. The level of persistence is configured by the network administrator, and users who fall into this category can be identified as requiring training on date data input.

Centennial 2000
This product from Centennial is designed to test and fix any PC-based problems associated with the year 2000. In particular, it is designed to be deployed easily across a network, reporting back to a central database with details of workstations tested and fixed. Besides the usual tests for hardware and firmware compliance, it creates a software inventory, which is linked directly to the manufacturer’s relevant web page for information on compliance status. It also scans all PCs looking for spreadsheets and databases, and looks inside for date data, reporting back what it finds. It also distributes to the clients a utility that draws the users’ attention to each individual cell that contains date data that may need fixing.

ClickNet Professional 5
Many companies that have built their recent success on solving the Y2k problem are looking at ways to ensure continuity of their own businesses next year. The inventory detection and software auditing skills they have refined in their Y2k software put them in a good position to move into the auditing arena. One such company is ClickNet, which launched just such a product in August.
ClickNet Professional 5 is a resource management tool for planning and problem solving of distributed computing systems. It provides easy-to-use inventory detection and analysis, with integrated tools that enable ongoing maintenance and management of the network.
The ClickNet Professional auditing process automatically collects detailed hardware, software, and configuration information from each PC when the user logs on to the network. The auditing tool is fast, accurate, and does not require any software to be installed on the PC. Numerous configuration options allow complete control over audit scheduling and customisation of the information collected to meet your asset management requirements.
All network-attached devices may be auto-discovered using standard networking protocols, including Microsoft, Novell, and TCP/IP. The discovery process may be tailored to limit the scope of the discovery or use only specific methods to gather information about the network and the devices connected to it.
The software builds a database using the information collected by the auditing and network discovery processes to maintain a detailed repository of knowledge about your computing environment. ClickNet’s diagramming tools generate detailed maps of your network, and can be annotated or customised to aid in planning, documenting, and maintaining the network. All details about a network device or PC can be displayed directly from the map. ClickNet Professional has over 140 pre-defined reports.
ClickNet’s remote control tools enable you to monitor and control PC or Macintosh systems over the network. New ‘Remote Chat’ and ‘Voice Intercom’ capabilities make remote training possible as well.

The five-layer model: Companies must deploy a Y2K tool that checks all five layers of the PC problem

Above: Greenwich Mean Time’s Check 2000 identifies Y2k-related issues at the desktop and recommends fixes.

Left: DataCop prevents the unprotected use, sharing and spread of incorrect dates