Managing:Technology

You may be all geared up for the new millennium, but it's possible your computer system isn't. Computer systems worldwide are in danger of failing at midnight Dec. 31, 1999, reversing time and counting from 1900 instead of 2000.

Corporations and large institutions such as hospitals and airlines are working furiously to make their systems Year 2000 (known as Y2K) compatible, but there's no guarantee every glitch will be caught.

On his Web site (www.isquare.com), small business expert Robert Sullivan suggests precautions business owners must take before the big year approaches:

• Contact your suppliers to make sure they can still ship merchandise if their computer systems fail.
• Make sure your payroll processing service, merchant card account provider and security system supplier are Y2K-compliant.
• Check that your cash register and other point-of-sale equipment will work properly after Dec. 31, 1999.
• Investigate whether your business liability insurance policy will cover losses related to Y2K problems.
• Make sure your computer hardware and software are Y2K compliant. To check, download the YMark 2000 utility at www.nstl.com/html/ ymark_2000.html.

by Stacey King

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