DBCS - I&A Technical Track

Issues & Answers Technical Issues Track

DCI’s Year 2000 Issues and Answers: Technical Track offers project leaders a thorough understanding of the complexities of the conversion process including: testing, how to integrate tools, assess and scope your project, measure its success and more. Learn from industry experts and make critical Year 2000 decisions based on up-to-the-minute information!

In-Depth Workshop

Year 2000 Tools, Methodologies and Solutions

Marilyn Frankel, Principal, Edge Information Group

M. Carl Gehr, Jr., Principal, Edge Information Group
If You Can Sleep Properly at Night... You Don't Understand the Significance of the PC Problem

Karl W. Feilder, Co-Founder and CEO, Greenwich Mean Time Ltd.
Testing for the Year 2000 Conversion

Thomas McCabe, Founder & President, McCabe & Associates
The Year 2000: Update from the Field

Howard Rubin, Professor, Hunter College of C.U.N.Y.
Avoiding the Freeze

Joe Allegra, President, Princeton Softech
Automated Code Repair: Integrating Tools Support for the Millenium Change

Lawrence Rolstad, Managing Consultant, Data Dimensions

Special Two-Hour Interactive Session
From Theory to Planning — Getting a Taste of the Project

Peter de Jager, Speaker and Consultant, de Jager and Company

In-Depth Workshop

1. Year 2000 Tools, Methodologies and Solutions

Marilyn Frankel

and

M. Carl Gehr, Jr.

Tuesday, 1:30 - 5:50 am

Solving the Year 2000 software crisis will require organizations to embrace new technologies and methodologies. On-the-shelf software and processes that are used for routine maintenance aren’t sufficient for undertaking a Year 2000 project. This workshop presents an overall framework for understanding, evaluating and selecting appropriate solutions for use throughout the entire conversion effort. Both "end-to-end" offerings as well as solutions that address specific phases are presented. The concepts and issues described will be platform independent, but specific tools and system software examples will be primarily IBM mainframe related.

Understanding the Year 2000 Landscape
How Year 2000 Differs From Routine Maintenance
Developing the Systems Inventory Portfolio
Analysis of the Problem: Look at the Code or Data or Both?
Evaluation of Standard Vendor Offerings
Changing Code and Data
Where Are "Value-Added" Conversion Opportunities?
Testing (a.k.a.. Pandora’s Box)
Configuration Management

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2. If You Can Sleep Properly At Night... You Don't Understand the Significance of the PC Problem

Karl W. Feilder

Wednesday, 8:30 a.m.

Karl W. Feilder is CEO of Greenwich Mean Time, a company set up specifically to raise awareness of PC and client/server Year 2000 issues. Feilder explains, with live examples, the nature of the PC problem, covering BIOS, Operating Systems, and application level issues. He presents the latest results from Greenwich Mean Time testing, which (at the time of writing) indicate that there are Year 2000 concerns with some 27% of PC programs checked, even including latest release software from the large manufacturers. He concludes with advice on how to proceed and the next logical steps which should be taken by anyone with a PC.

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3. Testing for the Year 2000 Conversion

Thomas McCabe

Wednesday, 9:30 p.m.

In light of the fact that half the expense in the Year 2000 conversion process will be in testing, this talk focuses on the process of testing the changes that have been made to make software Year 2000 compliant. It is recommended that all software be tested using the structured testing methodology. The cyclomatic complexity (which determines the number of linearly independent paths through a module of code) can be calculated as it relates to the date references within the code. The specified Data Complexity (sdv(g)) will then indicate the paths through the code that need to be tested to complete structured testing on the date references. This methodology insures that all the data corrections have been tested independently of each other. Mr. McCabe outlines the steps necessary to complete this process:

Adapting the Cyclomatic Complexity to the Date Problem
Calculating Data Complexity
Determining Test Paths Based on the Date Complexity
Assuring All the Date Test Paths Were Tested

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The Year 2000: Update from the Field

Howard Rubin

Wednesday, 10:30 a.m.

Year 2000 discussions of impact and strategic and tactical planning have generally been speculative and theoretical, until now! There are a handful of companies that had the foresight to start early and are now well into their conversion cycles. This talk focuses on the real lessons learned... estimates versus reality; where the BIG issues really are; what resources are truly required. By capturing these lessons you should be able to refine your plans and move more rapidly into the next millennium with lower risk.

Update on Executive Year 2000 Actions and Attitudes
Results from the Front Lines
Global Estimate Updates
Case Studies Downstream in the Process
What to Expect - Risk Management for the Year 2000

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5. Avoiding the Freeze

Joe Allegra

Wednesday, 2:00 p.m.

From the standpoint of application development, becoming Year 2000 compliant requires more than finding, changing, and testing every reference to a date in every production application throughout the enterprise. Mission critical business initiatives cannot be delayed while the Year 2000 conversion is in progress. Mr. Allegra gives IT executives a realistic strategy addressing often overlooked, but nonetheless critical challenges unique to the Year 2000 upgrade. Among the issues explored:

Developing a Testing Strategy to Account for the Uniqueness of Crossing the Millennium Boundary
Minimizing Exposure to Your Application Vendors’ Ability to Deliver Timely Year 2000-Compliant Versions of Purchased Applications
Managing the Process of Reconciling the Year 2000 Version of a Vendor’s Application with the Company-Specific Version Actually Used by the Enterprise
Balancing the Year 2000 Compliance Effort with the Business Imperative to Keep Systems Current for Competitive Advantage

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6. Automated Code Repair: Integrating Tools Support for the Millenium Change

Lawrence Rolstad

Thursday, 9:30 a.m.

Correcting the Year 2000 code errors can be made faster and more efficient with the proper tools, in the proper environment. Larry looks at tools in terms of what they do and where they do it. This is only part of the job, there are additional tools that support the inventory, analysis, testing and migration of code modules.

Do Any Magic Bullets Exist? What is Their Range?
Programmer Productivity - How Can This Be Improved? Is There More Than Tools?
What Is the Year 2000 Factory? Where Should It Be Located? Who Should Staff It?
How Do You Tell When the Year 2000 Problem is Solved?

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Special Two-Hour Interactive Session

7. From Theory to Planning - Getting a Taste of the Project

Peter de Jager

Thursday, 1:30 p.m.

The problem with the Year 2000 project is its sheer size. It’s bigger than anything we’ve tackled in the past and responsible for more "thought-lock" than any other project we’ve encountered. Where do you start? This session attempts to simulate the project planning process required to get a grip on the ultimate project involving your entire application portfolio.