May 17, 1999 Behind
the News:
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May 17, 1999 Behind
the News:
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Please
Note: This article first appeared in InformationWeek,
May 17, 1999, issue 734. pg. 148.
The Y2K date-field problem is merely a symptom of the underlying quality and management problems in the IT world. Quality, consistency, and simplicity are critical attributes for high-tech products, but they are largely lacking in today's software. That has to change, of course, but software vendors won't change voluntarily until they believe it's in their best interests to do so.Don't get me wrong. Software vendors aren't the enemy-they're just one of three groups that shape the successes and problems of the IT industry. The other two groups are users and system professionals-and they, too, need to change. The status quo is not sustainable in the software business because there's a large percentage of waste: More than 25% of software development projects result in failure. But how quickly the industry rights itself for the long term is largely a function of how successfully it deals with the Y2K issue in the short term.
Quality turnarounds aren't impossible. A recent example comes from the U.S. auto industry, which stepped up quality and management practices in a hurry when higher-quality, lower-priced imports started taking away market share. The degree to which Y2K acts as a catalyst for the software and other high-tech sectors remains to be seen.
Still, powerful forces for the status quo in the high-tech vendor community, along with their lobbyists, are doing everything they can to minimize their Y2K pain through legislative limits on their potential liability. However, this could backfire on IT vendors-by potentially increasing total Y2K damages, they might increase the amount of damages to be paid by the fewer companies found liable. And allowing customers to suffer more Y2K pain doesn't engender vendor good will.
But those aren't even the worst ramifications of government intervention into IT.
If vendors, users, and system professionals were to become further estranged because of new laws, and the public were to grow outraged at lingering Y2K problems, the legislative repercussions could include licensing and malpractice insurance for programmers, government-mandated standards for high-tech products, and regulatory agencies to police IT operations.
Impossible, you say? Try asking doctors, auto manufacturers, and chemical makers.
Is there any hope for a solution? Yes. Vendors could act more responsibly and strive for higher quality and interoperability. User companies-particularly senior executives-and customers could pay more attention to IT decisions, projects, and practices. But the language and culture gap among these groups is great; they have little history of interaction.
The techies, of course, are the best hope for avoiding litigation and legislative backlash due to Y2K. They're also the best hope for helping the other two groups change their behavior. But first, the techies have to make some changes of their own. Historically, they've been the pawns of the vendors, who have recognized that most techies just want new, challenging stuff to play with. And while techies are supposed to make IT decisions in the best interests of their employers, in many enterprises, there's little evidence they do this.
Of course, if senior managers would alter their behavior, everything would change, since they ultimately control the purse strings. But many of them are intimidated by technology and try to stay away from it.
In the end, IT's best hope of minimizing the intervention of regulators, legislators, and litigators is to foster a willingness to change on the part of vendors and customers, and a proactive, customer-oriented high-tech work force that brings vendors and customers together in meaningful dialog aimed at the improvement of quality, consistency, simplicity-and profitability.
I hope we're all up to the challenge.
Professor Leon A. Kappelman is an associate professor of Business Computer Information System in the College of Business Administration at the University of North Texas. He is also an associate director of the Center for Quality and Productivity at the University of North Texas and co-chair of the Society for Information Management's Year 2000 Working Group. He can be reached at kapp@unt.edu
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