Software houses face legal threat
Computer software suppliers who make promises they can’t keep will face an increasing threat of legal action, according to PA Consulting.
IT expert Nick Thornton warned that trends in the nature of systems and the way they are procured suggest IT litigation will become increasingly common. This, he said, was partly due to a growing awareness that, despite years of high-profile failures, IT projects do not have to be late and over budget.
Thornton’s warning comes days after science and technology minister Ian Taylor called on software developers to come clean on whether the systems they are selling today will cope with the millennium date change.
Speaking at a conference on the Year 2000 problem, Taylor called for wide-ranging action to tackle the issue. He said: ‘I want to help users avoid any further shocks. Computer companies still selling non-millennium-compliant software and services must come clean and make their position clear to the customer. Chief executives should account to shareholders now for action taken to enable their company to trade through the millennium and accountants should consider how to disclose companies’ potential liabilities arising from millennium-based failures.’
Opinions are mixed as to whether software suppliers can expect to be swamped by litigation over the failure of their products to cope with the four-digit year change on 31 December 1999. Most lawyers believe software suppliers are under no legal obligation to ensure their software is made compliant for free. But some software vendors, notably those who have made the investment and are now shipping compliant products, believe the industry has a moral duty to offer the upgrade for no extra cost.
IT researchers Tate Bramald Consultancy is carrying out research among the software industry to ascertain the extent of the problem – the results will be published later this year. In the meantime, experts warn that no business should touch a non-compliant package until it is sure a hassle-free upgrade is available. Otherwise it will be taking on a problem that many other organisations have yet to solve.