Thanks to the media feeding frenzy emphasizing the potential disaster awaiting the worlds information technology systems as the new millennium dawns, a large and relatively unheralded opportunity awaits the senior decision maker willing to stand back and view the whole picture. It is absolutely true that the date codes built into the chips that control everything from the hydraulic systems on jet airliners to the elevators in skyscraper downtown buildings, from global positioning satellites to check processing systems, could well bring about a technological crisis that could affect our way of life. We all know the potential for disaster very well.

However, the good side, and there is always a good side to everything, is that most of the people who run our economy (with the possible exception of our politicians with law degrees), not only understand the problem, but are willing to invest in the solution and cover their bets with disaster preparation planning. The good thing therefore is that every decision maker in every organization has been given the opportunity, and the access to capital investment, to examine every process in the organization.

We are beginning to hear comments at our meeting like the following 'We went in to clean up the codes and data and came out with a Data Warehouse which has already yielded a 300% Return on Investment'. After the new millennium dawns there will be many people who will only look back upon the cost of surviving, while others will be able to state that it gave them the opportunity to improve and move forward.