Complicating the effort is the fact that not all vendors have said whether and how their software and hardware might be affected. That's been one of the challenges for Rudy Ebisch, the assistant director of the infrastructure group at a large global manufacturer of home and office products, who asked that his company not be named.

With nine major software platforms to deal with, Ebisch and his staff have been working for about a month to determine what they need to do to prepare for DST. During their investigation, they found that more than 100 older, unsupported applications are based on the Java Runtime Environment (JRE), which has to be patched to properly reflect the time changes.

"There are a thousand things that are going to fall through the cracks," Ebisch said. "Everything is running JRE. It's pervasive. Who is going to look at all of that and figure out what needs to be patched?" There was stuff we knew we had to check [for JRE use], but now there's a hundred other things we have to check."

Although have posted information online about the issue, many have been mum, so Ebisch said he's reaching out to them. "I have 150 vendors. They're not going to contact me, so I'll have to contact them," he said. "We've got to come up with a comprehensive list."

While the time shift shouldn't be a major issue at his company, Ebisch said it could be critical for many other businesses, including banks, investment companies, hospitals, airlines, communications systems and utilities that have time-sensitive systems. His solution -- and his recommendation to other companies -- is to designate an IT staffer to evaluate JRE use in all applications, determine what versions are in place and decide who will oversee the various problems likely to arise.