Testing Requires Well-Written Script

By Staff -- HOTELS Magazine, 4/1/1999

While it's only April, time is starting to grow short. All Y2K solutions

now should be on a fast track. There is little time left to make mistakes

or run into snags due to poorly defined procedures. Your project management

team should be well ensconced, inventory and vendor due diligence completed

to the point where you now have reached the testing phase. A well-defined

and communicated testing script is the key here and could help you complete

this phase in just a few days, whereas tests poorly scripted and executed

tests force you to go back two and three times to re-address problems.

"We've seen a lot of hotels test devices for only one day on the

calendar, but in most building systems there are about 18 days that

need testing, and in accounting and key card systems even more than

that," says Y2K expert Jeff Randolph, senior manager, real estate

and hospitality consulting practice, KPMG, New York.

For example, says Randolph, with accounting systems you look at the

month-end, quarter-end and year-end dates to generate financial statements.

With building systems you have to look before and after leap years and

dates before and after 9/9/99.

"The point is," says Randolph, "people

say say they have tested systems only by looking at one date. If that

is the case, they'd better go back and better define what a good test

really is."

Problems, Solutions

Another common problem in the testing phase is overlooking connectivity

of different systems and how data passes from one system to another.

For example, a fire alarm system is connected to the elevator and heating

controls. When a fire alarm is tripped, signals are sent to move other

devices into a safe mode. However, Y2K testing has found some systems

send out information not understood by the supporting systems. The lesson

here, says Randolph, is to not test systems such as fire alarms in isolation

and to make sure supporting systems interact properly.

While conducting tests, make sure a team is compiled to witness all

events. Some technicians might be well trained to conduct tests, but

they might not understand what they are really trying to achieve. It's

very important to have a technician who understands the system, a property

manager who understands Y2K issues and a third set of eyes making sure

everything is executed properly and results are accurate.

In fact, Randolph recommends a test coordinator

should be responsible for consistency of the test planning process

and tracking test results as they are executed. "It all comes down to a schedule," he

says.

For most typical software systems, Randolph recommends working closely

with the product vendor as they have compiled code for Y2K issues. On

the other hand, hardware manufacturers tend not to have detailed understanding

of their products because they are customized for a specific location.

In cases such as these, look to the service technicians who regularly

maintain the products.

Before any testing starts, make sure it is coordinated

with the business requirements and done at non-essential times so

if there is a failure it won't impair the business. Yes, failures

are possible during the testing phase and Randolph encourages all

hotel companies to create a recovery plan in the event of a catastrophic

failure. "We looked

at one energy management system where historic and specialized programming

were wiped out," he says. "Fortunately, a backup of the system

was done before the test. If it wasn't done, we would

have lost all the history of how the system was configured."

Shortages Of Parts, Time

And once again, Randolph emphasizes there is no

time to waste. "We

are starting to see shortages with parts," he says. "It has

become a race to see what is non-compliant in a hotel

portfolio, getting service technicians lined up and systems remediated

in quick fashion."

Randolph says testing needs to be done by the

end of the second quarter, at the latest the end of the third quarter,

because replacing any parts and reconfiguring any system has a lead

time. "By the end of the

third quarter, there will be real shortages and solutions

will become about working around problems with short-term fixes and

fixing the real problem when parts become available."