Possible Outside Sources of Y2K Programming Expertise

On Campus

Two campus units offer Y2K assistance to departments on a recharge basis.

IST Ð Administrative Systems Ð Departmental Technology Solutions (DTS)

The Departmental Technology Solutions (DTS) unit has staff with the skills and experience to modify common data bases and programming languages frequently used in campus departments for custom desktop and distributed applications.

Typically, DTS has an initial meeting with a prospective client to gather information about the Y2K project. This is done at no cost. Then, DTS determines what assistance their staff can provide and prepares a formal proposal to the department for doing the Y2K work. The cost estimate for the project is based on the approved recharge rate of $55/hour. An excerpt from an actual contract for Y2K remediation work managed by DTS, showing scope of work information, can be viewed here

Contact information: Contact DTS manager Kelly Haberer at kellyh@uclink4 or 642-7856 to discuss your project. You can also learn more about DTS at their Web site.

IST - Central Computing Services Ð Academic Computing Services

CCS Ð Academic Computing Services in IST provides UNIX systems support to campus departments and is available to do Y2K-related work for upgrading operating systems; upgrading software packages; upgrading hardware-related firmware; and modifying system support scripts and programs written in shell script, Perl, or C.

Academic Computing Services can also provide application program Y2K remediation for statistical applications (SAS and SPSS). And, depending on the size and scope of the project, Academic Computing Services may also be able to provide help with applications written in Fortran or C. All work is done on a recharge basis at the rate of $63/hour.

Contact information: To request services or learn more, contact Sherry Rogers, Academic Computing Services manager, at smrogers@socrates or (510) 642-7157.

Off Campus
If the department is going to pay an individual to fix or help fix one or more systems, he/she probably will be paid as an independent consultant. Click here for suggestions and information on how to best do this, including required forms and procedures.

If the department is going to hire a company to fix or help fix one or more systems, the department presumably will be preparing a requisition that will in turn lead to a purchase order issued by P&BC. The individuals on the Business Services team of P&BC may be contacted directly for further information or assistance. In addition, the department should look at the information related to hiring a programmer, since a lot of issues are similar.

Regardless of whether the department uses an individual or a company, it's critical that both have a clear, written understanding of the scope of work that will be done, broken into detailed phases. A good example is the DTS contract mentioned above.

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