Canberra, Jan 29: A small Australian computer software company said on Tuesday it had developed an easy, cheap, do-it-yourself solution to the millennium bug problem.Inforsoft Pty Ltd, a six-month-old company based in the Australian capital of Canberra, said the Info 2000 programme was designed for the corporate sector and was available for about one-third of the cost of alternatives.
Many companies now use consultants to fix the millenium bug or chose the time-consuming process of going through programmes themselves.
Info 2000 would cost about A$160,000 compared to the A$500,000 cost of using a consultant to install a similar programme, Inforsoft managing director Arnold Cummins said."With this, it really strikes the right sort of middle way, so that it's neither labour intensive at the organisation nor cost intensive in terms of having an outsider do it for you," Cummins told Reuters.
The package is aimed at fixing the programming flaw in which some computers, recognising years by only the last twodigits, mistakenly read the year 2000 as the year 1900.The error, known as the millennium or Year 2000 bug, could make computers malfunction or shut down and has led to fears of electronic chaos at the start of 2000.
Cummins said Inforsoft had formed a partnership with United States computer company CompuWare Corp to further the development and marketing of its programme worldwide.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
