Lessons from Y2K

The Y2K scare was instructive on many levels, not least of which was that lack of foresight and planning can turn a seemingly simple issue into a big problem that puts businesses on edge. It’s amazing to think that computer programmers writing code prior to the new millennium couldn’t see the folly of ignoring the first two digits of the year. Sure, allowing for a four-digit year might have cost some space and added complexity to the process up front, but in the end, the billions of dollars and untold hours spent on resolving the issue at the turn of the century could have all been avoided.

As organizations enter the analytics arena, they would do well to keep this lesson in mind: Investing in seemingly complex solutions to problems on the front end can often alleviate expensive fixes later. Rob Armstrong, director of the Teradata data warehousing group, offers sample scenarios and a list of critical questions enterprises should ask themselves to make sure they don’t create a new kind of Y2K for themselves!

Jennifer Niemela
Executive Editor
Teradata Magazine