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There are a few people who argue that y2k will be a net benefit because it is forcing businesses to buy new software, eliminate old systems, and generally make things more efficient.
This view is on the fringe of professional opinion, but it does exist. As time goes on, it won't.
Here is an example from CIO MAGAZINE (Nov. 15, 1997), a journal aimed at chief information officers.
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Contrary to all the doomsday prophesies, the dreaded "year 2000 problem" is the best thing that ever happened to the corporate information systems (IS) function. Mind you, it won't be great for the unfortunate few whose accounting systems bomb when those last seconds of the 1900s tick away. Nor will their customers find happiness, especially if the unfortunate few we're talking about are banks. For them, there will be the proverbial weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Most companies, though, will ring in the millennium without catastrophe. And benefits of the year 2000 shakeout, commonly referred to as Y2K, will be with us for a long time to come. . . .
Ultimately, everyone will benefit because that attention will bolster the bottom line. "Now the executives have an appreciation of what kind of information the IT guys need to make the right decisions," Goldhammer says.
The second enlightenment afforded by Y2K is that it finally gives IS executives a financially compelling reason to figure out what the heck systems their company uses. The truth is, at many companies IT is like Uncle Harry's attic—who knows what's kicking around up there? Some of it has real value; other stuff is just junk.
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