Year 2000 Compliance

I. POLICY:

It is the policy of the Division of Administration, as required by Executive Orders MJF 96-50 as amended, that all software and equipment procured by the Division must be Year 2000 compliant. The systems must not produce incorrect results prior to, during, or after the Year 2000 as a result of processing, storing, or displaying date data.

II. PURPOSE:

To define Year 2000 compliance, establish criteria for the use of dates within information systems, and set forth related rules governing the acquisition of data processing equipment, software, firmware products, data processing services and/or custom computer items or services.

III. APPLICABILITY:

This policy shall be applicable to all employees in all sections of the Division of Administration, both general appropriation and ancillary appropriations.

All hardware and software, firmware products, information systems or computer items or services, must be Year 2000 compliant at the date of acquisition or achieve Year 2000 compliancy by an agreed upon date at no additional cost.

This policy applies to all information systems within the Division of Administration, including hardware, software and applications systems on mainframes, servers, and personal computers.

IV. DEFINITIONS:

Year 2000 compliant means meeting the following criteria:

1. All dates stored on external media shall be stored in a standard date format that includes a 4 digit year representing century and year (CCYY),
2. The system will not end abnormally or give incorrect results during operation prior to, during or after the Year 2000 as a result of processing, storing, or displaying date data.
3. Any date calculation software provided must produce correct results processing date data within and between the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This would include any software provided for: computation of date range (time) periods, computation of future dates, leap year determinations, day-of-week determinations, day-of-year determinations, collating sequences used in sorts and merges, comparisons determining which date is earlier or later, and any other usual manipulations of date data.

V. PROCEDURE:

Vendors wishing to sell software, data processing services, or computer systems to the Division of Administration shall be required to certify that their products are Year 2000 compliant. If the vendor cannot provide that certification, they shall state the date on which the necessary upgrades will be made available to the state at no additional cost. In no case shall this date be later than June 30, 1999. The attached sample Year 2000 compliance clauses or equivalent language shall be included in any contract for information systems entered into by the Division of Administration.

VI. RESPONSIBILITY:

The Office of Information Services is responsible for:

Answering technical questions relating to this policy and interpreting Year 2000 compliance

Working with the Division of Administration sections to assess the impact of the Year 2000 on their data processing systems and software.

Coordinating required updates to the Division of Administration developed software.

Evaluating Year 2000 compliance on the Division of Administration mainframe and servers, including hardware, operating system and system utilities; identifying the necessary initiatives; requesting sufficient resources; and scheduling approved system upgrades or replacement.

Each section head is responsible for:

Complying with the provisions and spirit of this policy, and

Communicating this policy and all updates to all employees in his/her section, and

Enforcing this policy, and

Ensuring that Year 2000 compliance criteria are incorporated into all solicitations and contracts for data processing systems, software or services.

Working with the Office of Information Services staff to assess the impact of the Year 2000 on their data processing systems and software.

Justifying any additional resources required to assure Year 2000 compliance and participating in development of associated budget request. Ancillary sections will be required to budget and fund any associated hardware and software acquisitions.

Scheduling the upgrade or replacement of all non-compliant systems to ensure Year 2000 compliance. The associated resources, work plans, and funding must be scheduled to ensure completion on or before June 30, 1999.

VI. EXCLUSIONS:

The provisions of this policy may be waived for acquisitions less than $1000, or as determined by the Deputy Undersecretary in writing.

VII. VIOLATIONS:

Employees found to have violated this policy may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination.