New Start and End Dates of Time Standard Need to be Addressed
Lee Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of solutions which enable commercial enterprises and government agencies to avoid disaster and mitigate risk to their physical infrastructures, is alerting customers about the possible ramifications of not being ready for the new dates of Daylight Savings Time (DST) - which go into effect March 11, 2007. Previously, daylight savings time began in the US on the first Sunday in April and ended on the last Sunday in October.
These dates were recently modified with the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Starting in March 2007, daylight savings time in the US will begin on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November. (Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and American Samoa do not participate in DST). Lee Technologies is committed to working with customers to make this transition as seamless as possible for customers affected by these new time changes.
While many systems have automatic DST capabilities, many computer, electronic instrumentation and security systems will need to be changed manually. Time change considerations include:
* Proprietary systems that will require a firmware update from the manufacturer. Many fire
panels, Automatic Transfer Switches (ATS), UPSs and generator control systems fall into
this category. Older legacy equipment that is no longer supported will need to be manually
adjusted.
* Building management, security and monitoring systems running on a commercial operating
system such as Windows or Linux. Software patches from vendors are available for most
systems. Microsoft Windows XP (SP2), Windows Server 2003, Windows Server SP1 and
Windows 2000 need to be updated.
"If facility systems were to lose synchronization with the new time standard, there could be a period of one to three weeks, twice a year, where they would be out of sync with the actual time of day, said Bob Woolley, director of technical quality management for Lee Technologies. "We urge facility, data center and IT managers to inventory their equipment to determine what systems need attention in order to develop a plan of action that will ensure a smooth transition when the time change takes effect on March 11, 2007.
Examples of unwanted effects include:
Ôé¼. Building management systems that rotate or automatically exercise equipment by time of day
could perform tasks at unexpected times.
Ôé¼. Security systems that control access by time of day may inappropriately deny or allow
access.
Ôé¼. Logs and time stamps could be incorrect. System events will be difficult to relate to one
another.
Ôé¼. In rare cases, serious issues may result if events are performed out of sequence.
Lee Technologies is available to assist customers in evaluating exposure, determining the risk and coordinating mitigation efforts through its Mission Critical Assessment program. For more information, contact Lee Technologies at 1-800-955-4533.