Year 2000 Readiness
Debra Mayson
Director, Business Continuity at Southern Company Energy Marketing
When Southern Company Energy Marketing (SCEM) needed to ensure its data processing and telecommunications equipment and software were ready to do business in the year 2000, Debra Mayson hired Englert Technology for three reasons: money, expertise, and trust. Two employees of Englert Technology worked full time for over 18 months at SCEM successfully identifying noncompliant hardware and software and replacing or upgrading it.
"Cost and expertise were issues, but I can't emphasize enough the importance of trust. Fred and his team were exposed to enormous amounts of confidential information, but I knew I didn't have to worry about that information getting into the wrong hands.
This was a project with a definite deadline that couldn't move. I didn't have to spend time making long-term staffing decisions and hiring full-time staff I potentially would let go when this project was over. I hired Englert Technology, and Fred hit the ground running and got his team quickly in place. They knew what to do and what questions to ask, and they put the processes in place to get the job done.
Working with Englert Technology was very cost effective for us. I got a lot of expertise for my money. SCEM didn't have to spend time developing a project management methodology because Fred brought that with him. Fred also comes from an energy background so he knew our industry and that was very influential.
Our holding company, Southern Company, had provided us with a year 2000 methodology that outlined the steps we should follow. Englert Technology was very flexible and adapted the project management methodology to fit what we already had in place. The project management methodology showed us how to complete each of the steps.
In the summer of 1999, I requested an internal audit of our year 2000 readiness. We have some tough auditors, and they made very favorable comments about what we had done to prepare and how it had been documented. That was very important to us because it justified our efforts and the work of Englert Technology.
There isn't anything I would change about working with Englert Technology on this projectãnot the people or the work they've done. They provided real, solid project management."
