"It doesn't have to be Y2K to spell trouble for companies and governments in American and around the world," said ITAA President and CEO Phil Bond. "Organizations could face significant losses if they are not prepared. With less than 30 days to go, time is short."
Daylight savings time will begin on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November. In prior years it began on the first Sunday in April and ended the last Sunday of October.
The change means that any applications and systems not updated will operate an hour behind from March 11 to April 1. The resulting disruptions could affect information security, financial services and day-to-day scheduling among other functions.
Trouble could be particularly likely in organizations dependant on aging IT infrastructures. Patches and other support are available from IT companies to update most relatively current applications and systems.
The Association also noted the impact likely will be felt beyond the U.S. Canada and Bermuda are changing their DST dates to conform to the U.S. change. Applications anywhere around the world could be impacted if they support users, transactions or applications originating in those countries that are changing DST.
