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IT Impact from Daylight Savings Time Change
By Dale Walls
As we all know March 11th is the early kick off of Daylight Savings Time (DST) this year as a provision of the US Energy Policy Act of 2005. In a nutshell, DST has been extended by 4 weeks starting this year (3 weeks earlier than the previous first Sunday in April to the second Sunday in March and 1 week later to the first Sunday in November from the last Sunday in October). As with all other bends in the space-time continuum, our IT systems now need adjusting.
Many will reference the Y2K bug when referring to this impact on our systems however this case is a lot more manageable. In the case of Y2K, the paranoia was that all of our systems would crash and our world would cease to exist as we knew it. No one was for certain what was going to happen so it seemed. With the Energy Policy Act change to the DST, we know what’s coming: On Monday March 12, when we arrive at work our computer and phone system times will either be right or they will be wrong. Luckily for us, our Vendors have posted instructions, notices, and patches to update our systems in preparation for this event. Now is the time for our patch management policies to shine (for those of us who have them).
The good news for early adopters of Windows Vista, Office 2007, and Exchange 2007 is that you’re respective systems running these software titles are unaffected by this change. For the earlier versions of these products and others, we’ve got some patching to do. Microsoft products that require instruction or updates include Server and Client Operating systems prior to Vista, Exchange Server versions prior to 2007, Windows Mobile Devices, Office Outlook, SharePoint Services and Portal Server, and CRM as well as others.
Other core systems to be aware of in the office include your Fax systems, Phone systems to include your scheduled Auto Attendant, PDA devices, cell phones, Time Clocks, Security Systems, Point of Sale, Network Attached Storage devices, Network infrastructure devices, and anything else that is capable of automatically adjusting for DST. Most vendors have provided the necessary instruction or patches to update supported systems. Be aware however that some systems may be considered past it end-of-life (EOL) and may not provide necessary updates. If at worst case you are unable to identify the update for a system in particular, you could always resort to configuring the device to NOT automatically adjust for DST and reconfigure the time manually on the 11th of March and again Nov 4th.
As with most all patch processes, preparation is key. Utilize your existing inventory reports or make a new one to identify your ‘time recognizing’ devices and systems. Use this list to make sure each system is updated accordingly while prioritizing those that require date/time to function properly or rely on time-sensitive operations.
I invite you to utilize our Daylight Savings Time Resource Center at CorsicaTech.com/timechange to stay up to date on the latest patch availability and access to additional information regarding the DST Change. Good luck!
Dale Walls is President of Corsica Technologies, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner & Small Business providing complete IT Solutions for businesses, government, and home computing in Maryland, DC, and Virginia. Feel free to contact Dale at 443.262.9290, or by email at dale@corsicatech.com.
