Post-Y2K: Companies now ask,
"Did I do the right thing?"

   Not unlike questioning the money we spent during the holidays, companies are now taking a look back and asking if they went overboard on Y2K fixes.

   "I spoke to one of our clients who clearly thinks that they did the right thing, but may have done a little overkill with redundant testing of systems and overspending for fail-safes," said Andrew McGarry, Manager of Consultis of Atlanta. "He wouldn't want it any other way, though. They either fixed system code or waited to see the impact no action brought and that was a risk they were not willing totake."

   There is little question that over-hype could have lent fuel to the fire when it came to overspending. Y2K took on a life of its own and inserted doubt where there should have been confidence. Programmers were saying, "Yeah, we got it" while management, who were subjected to the hyperbole daily, recoiled with "Ok, but what if..."

   How much was overspent because of the hype? Estimates run as high as $70 billion worldwide. That includes money spent on extra New Year staff and contingency planning.

   In the end, arguably the largest applications development project of all time was a resounding success. Think of it: Tens of thousands of IT professionals honing their skills and making excellent wages. Thousands of companies upgrading software and systems. Management learns new found respect for those information systems and the skilled IT professionals who put their heart into it. And (maybe the best thing) companies learned how to strategically integrate IT into their business models.