Compaq slams Prove It 2000 product claims

Compaq has compiled a report about UK millennium bug company Prove It 2000, in a bid to discredit the organisation's product.

The manufacturer obtained copies of the Prove It 2000 millennium bug product in June and UK staff spent weeks trawling through the program.

The information gathered was sent to Compaq's year 2000 director, Stephen Coughlan, who drew up a report.

PC Dealer has obtained a copy of the report sent out on an exclusive mailing list to some of the world's most influential IT managers and corporate leaders. The list is run by Canadian year 2000 guru and US Senate consultant Peter de Jager.

In his report, Coughlan claimed Prove It 2000 'misrepresents' its own system to customers in the product's documentation: 'Prove It 2000 is presenting its own package as very much a last resort ... and is careful to state that its own product will not in every case be successful'.

He added the firm was guilty of 'gross distortion of the truth' and had been making 'false' claims.

Richard Coppel, managing director of Prove It 2000, said Compaq's attack was 'unfair' because it was almost impossible to counter. He said Prove It 2000's assaults were in the press, where 'everything was equal and everyone had a chance to say what it wanted'.