Gartner says that disruptions could affect
calendars, billing programs and security systems as well as
undermining automated trading systems.
This year daylight saving time (DST), which
puts the clocks forward one hour in spring and back an hour in
autumn, will begin earlier and finish later in the US. It will
start on the second Sunday in March, rather than the first Sunday
in April, and end on the first Sunday in November, rather than the
last Sunday in October.
Gartner has discovered that few organisations
have put systems in place to deal with the change, and few may even
be aware that such a change is planned.
The UK and much of Europe, major trading
partners with the US, also use DST, but till now the changeover
dates have been largely in synch.
These changes, though, mean that between 11th
March and 25th March there will be a four hour, rather than a
five hour, time difference between London and New York, and
a five hour difference between Frankfurt, Paris, Madrid or
Milan and New York instead of one of six hours.
"This is a minor problem compared to the big
code changes required in the recent past for issues like Y2K or the
euro conversion," said Will Cappelli, research vice president at
Gartner. "However, significant business damage and liabilities
could occur from applications performing their processing at the
incorrect time if organisations do nothing."
Gartner has warned that the dangers could
include incorrect travel times in systems in the travel industry;
late scheduled payments in the banking industry; botched automated
trades in the financial sector; and phone companies incorrectly
charging peak and off-peak rates.
The company has warned that not all the issued
patches for the problem will work. Many will ensure that future
appointments will take account of the change but will not change
previously made appointments, it said.
"At the very least organisations should run a
communications program for all staff well in advance of the change,
and support service managers should ensure that they are fully
staffed on March 11 and 12,” said Cappelli.
