Jennifer Brown 9 September 2002

Midsouth Chamber of Commerce

Who:
Midsouth Chamber of Commerce (MSCC): Leon Lassiter: A non-profit, member supported organization that lobbies state government on behalf of local businesses.

Vice President of Marketing at MSCC. Lassiter became the champion for the move to the UNITRAK system. President of Midsouth Chamber of Commerce

Jack Wallingford: Ed Wilson: Ted Vassici:

Vice President, Public Affairs and Operations, MSCC. Wilson asked Wallingford to spin off public affairs. Lassiter took on this role. Initial Information Systems person for MSCC. He was hired as an outside consultant. Developed and recommended systems 1992-1996(?) Information system support specialist hired for MSCC. Kovecki supported all the systems, and was charged with the technical aspects of the migration to the UNITRAK system.

Simon Kovecki:

Jeff Hedges: Greg Ginder:

Vice President of Public Finance. Given the role of IS manager as well. President, UNITRAK

What:
Midsouth Chamber of Commerce needed to update its computing systems to a more modern structure to meet the growing demands of employees and members. Prior to the time when MSCC hired Simon Kovecki the computer systems were designed, installed and supported by outside consultants including Ted Vassici, who supported the systems for a significant period in the early 90s. Upper management had decided in the mid-90s to begin to consolidate their computer systems to an AS/400 based system called UNITRAK. Kovecki was tasked with implementing this new system, but ended up with a heavily botched migration that left MSCC with lost data on the old systems, and an inoperable UNITRAK system.

Where:
Midsouth Chamber of Commerce. UNITRAK

When:
The main crisis occurred in September 1999.

Why/How:
MSCC did not have heavy experience in Information Systems, the Company had passed the role of Chief Information Officer to and from whichever upper manager wanted it at the time, regardless of their experience with information technology. The result was a hodge-podge computer system pieced together based on individual departments needs, and not the overall Companys needs. Early on, the company outsourced its information technology, most notably to Ted Vassici, who was MSCCs de facto IS department from 1993-1995. As employees became more reliant on information technology to communicate with members and conduct business, MSCC hired a full time IS support person: Simon Kovecki. In the late-90s it became apparent that the patchwork systems were becoming outdated and cumbersome. Upper management made the decision to move to a more unified system. The system they settled on was the AS/400 based UNITRAK system. At this point MSCC still did not have a representative in upper management that was primarily concerned with information systems. At this point the Vice President of Public Finance had the role of Chief Information Officer, even though he did not have an extensive background in technology. Additionally, UNITRAK was a system still in its infancy. When MSCC had decided on the technology it had only been implemented in one other location: Northern State Chamber of Commerce. Although the migration had been a success at NSCC, the product was still in a state where changes and updates were being made regularly. Kovecki was tasked with the technological implementation of this system, however he was lacking any form of project management, or any guidance at all in regards to timelines, or expectations. It did not help that Hedges and Lassiter were passing responsibility for various project functions back and forth without communicating effectively with either Kovecki or the end users. In the end, it was the lack of proper management that caused the problems. Upper management lacked intimate knowledge of information systems, and relied heavily on outside sources who are not familiar with the organization to make decisions for them.