| REVIEWS
Cruising
Cyberspace
Web
Site Pick Of The Month
By Pam Wegmann
The end of 1999 is
fast approaching and with it, the consequences of how your company will
have dealt with the Y2K problem. This countdown is no more evident than
at this month’s choice of sites for review. There on the first page of
the site is a countdown clock which ticks down in days, hours, minutes
and seconds the approaching deadline for every automated system in the
world:
http://www.sba.gov/y2k/
It’s the U.S. Government’s
Small Business Administration site dedicated to helping the small businesses
of the United States remediate their computerized systems and prepare for
this event. This is a voluminous site with a tremendous amount of information
and links to other sources on the Y2K issue. Overall, the site is straightforward
and serious. There are reams of text, files that can be downloaded, and
very few graphics other than an occasional picture of a PC that repeatedly
goes into a meltdown to stab home the main theme of the site.
The home page consists
of a series of links on the left side of the screen as well on the center
of the screen. Unlike other sites which usually have at least some redundant
links on the home page, this one doesn’t. The buttons on the left of your
screen do not take you to the same places as the hot links listed in the
topics on the center of the screen. What we couldn’t quite discern was
the logic of why particular links were located where they were.
However, up front
and center is a link to a description to the SBA’s Y2K Action Loan Program.
The President signed into law a few months ago a law which requires the
SBA to provide loan guaranty programs to small businesses specifically
for addressing Y2K. The program utilizes the SBA’s 7(a) loan policies and
procedures. Eligibility rules, use of the funds and where to go to get
such financial assistance are provided.
The link to Y2K Training
Events provides a list, alphabetized by state, of seminars designed to
educate the small business on the topic and its ramifications. The list
is available in multiple formats for downloading or viewing.
In case you can’t
attend any of these events, you can click on SBA Y2K Seminar Materials.
From there, you can get copies of materials provided at previously held
events such as readiness worksheet handouts, supply chain readiness handouts
including supplier questionnaires, and, materials from three different
PowerPoint seminars including speakers notes. A nice feature is that the
user is provided a choice of multiple formats in which to download the
information, including Excel, PowerPoint, Word or Zip.
The link to the National
Institute of Standards & Technology takes you to the federal government’s
Y2K Help Center and toll free number. There you can access a Jump Start
kit to get you going on your action plan.
The Self Assessment
Checklist connection focuses on small businesses and provides step-by-step
information for determining how extensive your own company’s problem may
be. It also lists other helpful sites, but falls short in that the list
is not hot linked. It’s simply a list.
Closely related,
but separate on the other side of your screen in the column of buttons,
is one labeled Steps To Take. This gives you a nice flow chart that lays
out exactly your procedure for self-assessment and remediation action.
When you are ready
for technical help, you can click on Solution Providers. This takes you
to a search screen whereby entering the words Y2K or Year 2000, you are
searching the SBA Business Cards database. The list is woefully short as
it strictly provides companies from the SBA’s existing database of companies
who are registered with them already under other policy rules. Louisiana
had only 3 companies pop up.
There are additional
connections to Outside Resources such as the home site of the ITAA (Information
Technology Association of America) whose site we reviewed last year, to
the Federal Y2K Gateway, and to Major Corporations Get Ready, a list of
technology companies only and their actions on the Millennium Bug.
If your company hasn’t
already addressed its Y2K issues, then you need to get started ASAP! This
site is a good place to begin today so you can be Y2K okay.
Knowledge is Power!
:-)
July 1999
Questions/Comments
can be sent to pam@info-matters.com
or faxed to 504.738.0016. You can also reach Ms. Wegmann at 504.738.0070.
|
