Such capital expenditures should raise the level of productivity in those enterprises, and, in general, the need to address the Y2K problem has increased the awareness on the part of senior executives of the complexity and importance of managing corporate information technology resources. The increased replacement demand also has contributed to the spectacular recent growth in this country’s computer hardware and software industries.
But, ultimately, we are largely shifting the timing of these investment expenditures: Today’s added growth is likely “borrowed” from spending at some time in the future. And, while accelerating some systems investments, many institutions will “freeze” their systems in the middle of 1999 - effectively forgoing the installation of major new hardware and software systems as we approach the millennium.