Case Study: A Hospital Catches the “Millennium Bug”
Introduction: To prevent disaster and assure business continuity, Year 2000 (also known as “Millennium Bug” or “Y2K Bug” or “Y2K”) compliance projects entailed the following technical steps which applied to: all categories of software (operating systems, transaction processing and decision support applications, vendor packages, custom and user-developed software applications, etc.), computing hardware (desktop, midrange and mainframe systems), and programmable devices (such as elevator controls – which contained date-sensitive microprocessors):
- Inventory: Identify hardware and software that might five rise to “Year 2000” (Y2K) problems
- Analysis: Examine code for date fields, determining which ones needed to be fixed
- Remediation: Alter the code for Y2K compliance (aka “renovation,” “conversion”)
- Testing: Ensure the altered code produces correct results
- Migration: Put the new code into production
Question 1: Based on the facts presented in the case, how far had Fetcher-Allen progressed in these steps by the end of June, 1998? How likely is it that Fletcher-Allen would have achieved full-year 2000 compliance by December 31, 1999? (Explain your reasoning, supported by specific evidence from the case and assigned readings.)
Question 2: At the end of the case, Sadlemire observes, “This project sometimes plays second fiddle to other projects that I believe are less critical.” What “other projects” do you think he is referring to here? What advice would you give Sadlemire to help him address this issue of conflicting priorities?
Question 3: What should Bob Sadlemire tell the Board of Trustees at the June meeting?