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millennium update
Twotransitions
Extraordinary measures
Intensified business
Crucial staging point
Cautiously confident
What's NewS Issue 9 October/November 1999 I
and the bulk of important small- and
medium-sized enterprises everywhere, has
made great strides in Y2K preparation, it
is impossible to state with absolute
certainty that all our clients, or the busi
ness partners of those clients, have done
the santé. During the millennium
changeover, we can imagine a scenario in
which an important Rabobank customer
discovers that, although he has made best
efforts internally, one or more of his
trading partners has failed to do the same.
The clients' product- and/or cash-flow
could be severely disrupted as a result,
•tising a question about whether and to
fhat extent Rabobank, as his key
relationship bank, should constructively
intervene. This requires that we establish
detailed priorities in advance.
All of these preparations and assessments
are in the process of being finalized and
acted upon, even as What's NewS goes to
print. These BCP plans should be finalized
by the start of November. The Transition
Period Planning, or TPP, is a closely
related process more specifically geared
towards the detailed issues that can be ex-
pected to arise during the transition itself.
Parenthetically, it is worth noting that
there are actually two transitions: one at
the turn from 1999 to the year 2000, and
another at the switch from February to
March 2000. (There are unique additional
systemic challenges associated with the
fact that 2000 is also a leap year.) Crisis
Teams will be established both centrally in
Utrecht as well as at all branches. Each
team will include a local BCP/TPP man-
•ger, a commercial representative, and an
T expert - all operating under the direc-
tion and responsibility of the General
Manager of each office or division in-
volved. At the same time, a glohal 'crisis
management' team will coordinate any
transnational issues that might arise. (In
order to get a clear overall picture of the
state of our BCP and TPP preparedness,
as well as our ambitions for the coming
weeks, readers are encouraged to consult
a brochure now available from the
Millennium Program team which has been
recently distributed.)
lt should be made clear that if we want to
be absolutely certain of meeting the
closely-spaced and interrelated deadlines
associated with the aforementioned BCP
and TPP efforts, and of reporting to regu-
latory authorities according to a rigid
Schedule laid out some months ago, we
cannot proceed with 'business as usual'.
Already, we have defined a broad series of
'health checks', as well as so-called change
control procedures that can be used when
the changeover occurs. Several extraordi
nary measures have also been initiated to
bolster our efforts, the foremost of which
may literally determine the success of our
transition. With the aim of maintaining
the stable IT platform that we have
worked so hard over recent months to
achieve, a strict freeze on the installation
of new systems or software anywhere has
been impose on the entire network. This
freeze formally went into effect at the
start of this month, and it is expected to
last for fully four months. There can be
few if any exceptions to this rule: the
overarching priority must be to maintain
our Front Office, Operations, and IT
organizations in their currently certified
Y2K-proof state. ('This is the launching
pad for all of our efforts leading up to
the transition itself,' remarks Flarrie
Paulissen, who shares the Millennium
team's management with Reusch.)
A further extraordinary measure is the
closing-down of 1999 business as of
December 30, rather than the customary
date of December 31. Says Paulissen, 'we
may be confronting a new millennium,
but that doesn't change the fact that all
the ordinary close-of-year procedures will
have to be closely attended to as well. To
get everything accomplished in good
order, and make sure the end of year run
isn't vulnerable to any conceivable disrup-
tions caused by power or system failures,
we'11 need to have a head start.' Similarly,
offices are being encouraged to remain
closed for cliënt business between Decem
ber 31 and 3 January 2000, although
bank business will naturally proceed,
indeed at an intensified pace. Finally,
general managers and account managers
are being asked to either speed up or de-
lay the effective date of any new contracts
and commercial agreements that are
slated to be circled at any point during the
transition phase; the aim here is to avoid
any dangerous ramp-up and clustering of
high business volume at year-end. And
finally, in light of the signal sent by rising
short-term interest rates, the bank will be
supplementing its liquiditv reserves to
meet any unexpected rush on solvency.
As our run-up enters its final and most
decisive phase, the millennium team has
planned three important regional confer
ences in weeks 38, 39 and 40 during
which all regional office representatives
will meet together in workshops and
thrash out the business continuity, transi
tion planning, and crisis management
scenarios in the finest detail. Paulissen
stresses that this phase of the effort will be
a crucial staging point as we prepare to
drive towards our final objective; man
agers from throughout the network will
be involved. There is onlv so much that
we can do at a central level. When it
comes to detailed planning and execution,
only the active cooperation and input
from all of our colleagues will guarantee
success. Our test weekends planned for
next month should give us a clear idea of
precisely how well we've done.
Reusch underscores this point: 'We have
made great progress and we have reason
to feel cautiously confident about the
coming millennium transition,' he says.
'But there is a lot of work still to be done.
Every Rabobanker is going to be affected
by this transition. They will either be
working on the dates of the transition, or
on call. For obvious reasons, no one
ought to be planning any vacations during
this critical phase.'
