INFORMATION technology managers may be having kittens about their mainframes and big systems when they think about the millennium bug, but the solution for the ubiquitous office desk personal computer should be easy enough - just throw them out and get new ones.
By the time software engineers - who have better things to do anyway - have sorted out an office full of PCs it would probably cost little more to scrap the lot and start again with updated models which are 2000 compliant.
So far, however, this has not happened to any great extent, according to Computacenter, one of the largest PC suppliers to business, which said companies were concentrating on their core systems and probably would not start considering their PCs until next year.
The firm is confident the manufacturers will have the hardware available. But chief executive Mike Norris is a little worried about whether it will be physically possible to install the number of machines needed by 2000, if it is left to the final few months.
Also some companies are putting off significant replacement projects until after 2000, as they want to concentrate all their efforts on the urgent task of fixing the millennium bug in their primary equipment. This will mean that replacement will be spread over a longer period, so smoothing the millennium impact.
Companies are most likely also putting off thinking about the euro for the same reason. So suppliers such as Computacenter and the armies of software engineers and computer consultants should not see business dropping off a cliff come January 1, 2000.
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