Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Some of the proposed new replacement dates have the same kind of problem as
the current dates. For example, the new ISO format does not have enough digits to
handle scientific date purposes. The ISO format will overflow in the year 10,000
and hence can't be used for scientific purposes.
Computer date storage is far more important than printing or displaying dates.
It would be enormously valuable if a truly effective date-storage standard could be
developed. The heart of this proposal is to separate the way dates are stored from
the way they are displayed. How dates are displayed can be a matter of personal or
national preference. But how dates are stored in computers needs to be global and
suitable for both scientific and business purposes.
Right now, none of the current date standard formats are going to accomplish
anything but cause more long-range problems for software and computer vendors
and a continuing need for tricky and error-prone date calculations.
The treatment of dates may be something of a non sequitur in a history book,
but date problems first became troublesome and expensive with the Y2K issue at
the end of the 1990s.
The Expansion of Outsourcing
The rapid expansion of software and the increasing volumes of aging legacy soft-
ware packages caused many companies to rethink whether it was cost-effective to
employ large data-processing staffs when their core businesses had little to do with
software.
The 1990s witnessed a rapid increase in both domestic and international out-
sourcing, with many companies reducing or eliminating internal software staffs
and transferring their software projects to outsource vendors. Maintenance out-
sourcing was the most common, but development outsourcing also grew rapidly.
Growth of Software Applications During the 1990s
The numbers of software applications continued to climb during the 1990s, but
the rate of growth was starting to slow down because so many applications were
already in use.
Table 8.3
shows the approximate numbers of applications created
in the United States during the decade.
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