Year 2000 readiness of unemployment computer systems

Official letter (https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/advisories/UIPL/1998/UNEMPLOYMENT%20INSURANCE%20PROGRAM%20LETTER%20NO.%2048-98.html):

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
Washington, D. C. 20210
CLASSIFICATION: UI
CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL: TEUT
ISSUE DATE: October 14, 1998
RESCISSIONS: None
EXPIRATION DATE: Continuing
DIRECTIVE: UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE PROGRAM LETTER NO. 48-98
TO: ALL STATE EMPLOYMENT SECURITY AGENCIES
FROM: GRACE A. KILBANE, Director, Unemployment Insurance Service
SUBJECT: Unemployment Insurance Service (UIS) SUN computer and the Year 2000 (Y2K) Issue

Purpose. The purpose of this directive is to inform all users of the UIS SUN computer system of the current status and plans concerning the Y2K issue.

References. FM 64-96, UIPL 30-97, UIPL 1-98, UIPL 38-98 Change 1, UIPL 46-98.

Background. Computer systems that use dates have a potential risk of computer failure when the year 2000 is involved. Problems may occur if systems are not capable of handling a four-digit year field or are unable to recognize the new century. Any operating system, hardware, and programmatic deficiencies which will cause mission critical systems to fail or to issue incorrect responses on or after January 1, 2000 must be identified and corrected. SUN system users have raised questions about the status of Y2K compliancy and plans for the UIS systems operated in the SUN environment.

Compliancy Approach. Numerous instructions have been issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the General Accounting Office (GAO) and the Department of Labor (DOL) providing the criteria to be followed to prepare for and achieve Y2K compliancy. UIS is following the five (5) phased approach promulgated by OMB. These phases require:

Awareness - raising management awareness of the problem,

Assessment - assessing the scope of the problem by inventorying systems and deciding which ones to change, replace, or discard,

Renovation - renovating the system to be changed,

Validation - validating (testing) the changed systems (including an independent verification), and

Implementation - implementing the revised systems (including developing a contingency plan).

Other requirements include development of contingency plans in the event of SUN system failure at either the State or Federal level, reporting on compliancy of data exchanges from other systems to the SUN, and mandatory independent verification and validation. The National Office will complete all requirements to assure compliancy of the UIS SUN system (all software and hardware developed or purchased by the National Office).

Contingency - National Office program offices are developing plans to continue critical data collection efforts to ensure that essential information continues to be collected. In most cases this will require manual reporting by the States and manual tabulation of information at the National Office. States will develop any necessary plans to provide the needed data as instructed in UIPL 46-98.

Independent Verification and Validation (IV & V) - Both the National Office and the States' systems are required to undergo IV & V to ensure Y2K compliance integrity. At the Federal level an independent contractor will be engaged to conduct the IV & V of all SUN systems/programs developed or purchased by the National Office. UIPL 38-98 provided instructions and requirements for the State agency's IV&V in regard to State developed systems.

Status - Application Software. There are six (6) major application software groups (State and Federal versions) which are a National Office responsibility and include:

All of the above systems have been assessed and renovated and are currently in the validation (testing) phase. All modules of the application will be tested in specific time intervals such as turn of century, leap year, fiscal year and other critical Y2K data checks.

Testing is being conducted in two phases: one for all State software and the second for all Federal software. State software testing has started and is scheduled to be completed by early December 1998. Federal software testing will start in early October and be completed by mid December 1998. Final approval and installation of Y2K compliant State software is planned for January - February 1999.

Status - System Software. Upgrades and other changes are needed for compliancy for the software required for system operation and system support.

Database software - All States are currently using Version 7.22 of the Informix relational database software. The National Office will test Informix compliancy as part of the overall testing to be completed in December 1998.

Operating system - The main operating system currently installed on all States and National Office SUN/UNIX servers (SUN Solaris Operating System V:2.4) will be upgraded to Solaris OS V:2.6 - 5/8. This version of the operating system has been certified by SUN Microsystems, Inc. to be Year-2000 compliant. Compliancy will be tested as part of the National Office testing to be completed in December 1998. The National Office plans to begin implementing Year-2000 upgrades nationwide starting January 1999.

Other support software - The operating software upgrade to Y2K compliancy also provides an opportunity to implement several new and upgraded services on the SESA SUN systems and also to test their compliancy. These new items include the following:

Apache Web Server, version: 1.3, for browser-based file sharing;

Exceed (X-Emulation) version: 6.1 (PC Software);

Netscape Communicator for Unix version: 4.05;

Perl, version: 5.004;

Pine, version: 4.0, for Unix E-Mail;

Solstice PPP, version: 3.01, for dial-up TCP/IP networking;

Samba and PC-NFS, for PC to Unix directory shares;

WordPerfect/Unix, version: 7.0; and

Kermit, version: 6.0.

At the same time, our analysis of Year-2000 issues and of current usage has led to the provisional decision to remove programs from the SESA SUN systems. These programs and the reason for their removal include:

Automated Program Execution (APE), due to minimal use;

E-Mail client (ELM), due to Year 2000 issues;

File Management, due to minimal use; and

Hyperscript Tools, due to minimal use and Y2K issues.

Status - Hardware. The server hardware, whether Sparc or Ultra, is certified as being compliant by SUN Microsystems. Server peripherals such as tape drives and CD drives are not affected by Y2K concerns. Dumb terminals or un-managed networking hardware have no Y2K compliancy issues. Even so, all of these pieces of hardware will be tested along with the servers.

The specific hardware (State or Federal) that UIS will be testing is as follows:

State Responsibilities. The National Office activities detailed above will ensure compliancy for the Federally supplied software and hardware. Any software developed or purchased by the State must be tested and certified at the State level. State developed Informix "ACE" reports will require revision if necessary. National Office support will no longer be available for Annex II terminal servers, Kennedy 9 track tape drives, or ELM (E-mail client).

State SUN users and System Administrators will also be required to "clean up" any unnecessary files and programs and remove inactive user accounts prior to receiving the new Solaris Operating system. Prior to the operating system upgrade a "Good/Clean" backup of State files will be necessary using a new tape.

Several directives have already been issued for Y2K activities at the State level. Two concerns that are especially important with respect to the SUN system are:

Data exchanges - UIPL 30-97 indicated that the States are responsible for ensuring any data exchanges they create, transmitting data to the SUN system, are compliant. The format developed by the National Office for UI Reports has not changed. A four (4) digit year is expected. However, State mainframe programs that provide the data to be transferred and the format sent to the SUN must be verified as compliant by the State.

BAM COBOL - UIPL 1-98 described the States' responsibility for the installation of the COBOL program used in the BAM program by January 1, 1999. The COBOL program has been provided to all States. States have been instructed to submit test results to the National Office prior to January 1, 1999, in order to demonstrate that they have successfully implemented the program.

Action Required. Administrators are requested to provide this information to appropriate staff.

Inquiries. All inquiries should be directed to the appropriate Regional Office or at the National Office to Bob Timms or Gordon Washington, at (202) 219-6221, ext. 350 or 351 respectively.