ONE-THIRD of business partners have not yet installed an action plan to make sure their office systems are year 2000 compliant, according to a survey by Maersk DFDS Travel.
The business travel agency carried out a survey of over 100 companies, including airlines, car-rental companies and hotels, as well as clients. Results show that 67% of respondents have either replaced old computer systems or enlisted a dedicated project handler to ensure their systems are year 2000 compliant.
But the remaining third have not yet acted, although they claim to be confident of finding a solution before the end of the year.
Maersk managing director Mike Carrivick said: “We did the survey because it is important to make sure our suppliers can supply, but we also want to make sure our customers are able to pay us. We do not want any of our customers to have computer problems that will cause us a cash-flow problem.”
He added:”Generally speaking, most people are aware of the potential problems and are taking the relevant steps. Others have programmes in place which have to be implemented. We have also found that a few have not been affected by this threat at all.
“What nobody will say is that they guarantee anything, but what they are saying is that to the best of their knowledge their systems are up and running. There is a fair bit of confidence that things will be OK, but we have to keep tabs on the one-third who are in the throes of implementing safeguards.”
Meanwhile, Carrivick predicted that the amount of people travelling on business will drop dramatically in December. “People will not be travelling, not because they do not want to fly, but because they want to stay in this country and keep an eye on their own businesses,” he said.