From...

by Stephanie Sim and Alan Soon, Computerworld Hong Kong

(IDG) -- There’s a vast divide in plans to handle the Y2K rollover in Hong Kong. As might be expected, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with relatively few resources, may not have completely watertight procedures in place. But larger firms appear to have their rollover acts together.

In a survey of some 3,000 firms earlier this year by the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC), 20 percent of small organizations said they wouldn’t be doing any work on Year 2000 preparations.

Still, the HKPC believes that SMEs are ready for the rollover. The organization said it’s getting fewer calls on its Y2K hotline as the big day approaches. “I suppose [companies] don’t have a main concern at this moment. They’re probably ready for the millennium,” said Roy Ko, principal consultant at HKPC.

Statistics compiled by the HKPC earlier this year showed that Y2K-readiness was lacking in the social services sector and among import-export trading companies.

Ko said social services organizations he’s spoken to will have staff on the standby that evening should the unexpected happen. “They understand the issue and they’ll take extra care,” he said.

The HKPC itself says it isn’t too concerned about the rollover, as few of its systems run around-the-clock. However, the organization will have technicians check the systems on January 1 before the next workday on January 3, Ko said.

SMEs contacted by Computerworld Hong Kong at random said they were either prepared, or felt that they would not be affected at all.

“Every computer system, fax machine, even the refrigerator is Y2K-ready,” said Louis Leung, senior vice-president of IT products distributor Microdia. “We’ve done all we can. [But] we’ll have a few people in the office [as a] precaution.”

“The system is upgraded and we’ve done our tests,” said Wing Lee, regional MIS manager at office products supplier Saggio, so the company does not plan to have anyone on standby for the rollover.

“Even up to now, we haven’t been called in,” said Edward Fung, consulting services manager at systems integrator SPL Worldwide China. “I think it’s either that the customer has already done the test or they’re quite confident that we’ll provide help to them if they need it.”

Bring it on

“We have completed the assessment, rectification and upgrade of our critical systems and equipment as of June 30, 1999," said Christina Lee, project manager in-charge of the corporate Y2K program at Towngas.

"We have established our risk mitigation measures and contingency plans, which have been drilled, rehearsed and confirmed," she said.

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At the same time, Towngas is exercising caution in securing its production plants and distribution centers. It's putting 1,100 staff to work on New Year's eve at its North Point main control center, the backup center at Ma Tau Kok, the airport, and the fire services command center.

The MTRC is equally confident, pointing out that a two-month trial using a Y2K clock went smoothly when put to the test earlier this year. According to Daniel Lai, head of information technology at the MTR, the corporation’s optimism stems from "running so many tests and rehearsals, and looking at this [Y2K problem] for so long" that it's unlikely for anything to go wrong.

The MTRC said it will continue to run overnight train services to accommodate New Year celebration activities. "But in the unlikely event that we lose power, the traffic system stops working, automatic fare collection shuts down, and if telecommunications fail... we'll have to go into the crisis mode, where human traffic will be diverted to nearby buses on standby," said Lai.

Cable and Wireless HKT said it will deploy 3,500 staff at various locations and put 1,900 employees on standby, even though the corporation does not foresee any problems. Still, it is reluctant to give a seal of guarantee because not all inter-carrier tests are completed yet.

"Some [inter-carrier testing is] still under negotiations because it is international, two-end testing," said Shirley Tam, a C&W HKT spokesperson. "We need to get the other partner's consent to do the test. [We in] Hong Kong, on our part, have done our best and we've put a lot of work in this area."

C&W HKT is also taking into account the possibility of a sudden influx of telephone traffic during the time-critical period.

"The telephone system is not designed to accommodate every person using the phone at the same time," said Tam. "We will monitor the traffic for local and international networks and if there is a sudden rise of traffic that is beyond what can be handled, we will have a system to manage the lines and put the call through subsequently," she explained.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club, with millions of dollars at stake for its Millennium Race which will run past midnight, is counting on Y2K to be a non-event. But its IT team is making sure that another problem likely to be triggered on January 1 is put at bay.

"We understand that there's a high likelihood that viruses can come specifically around this time frame, so we have a scheduled period for daily updates from the virus software vendors that we currently use, before forwarding any e-mail internally," said Steve Beason, the Jockey Club's director of information technology.

Beason pointed out that doing daily virus updates is not standard operating procedure for the Club. "I think it's a high risk, our virus vendors' think it's a high risk, that's why they've given us the ability to get daily updates from them, which they normally don't do. So we're riding on their coattails in that area."