That breeze coming out of Chicago is Jamie Dimon breathing a sigh of relief.
The chief executive of Bank One Corp. just marked a milestone in his quest to ignite revenue growth - the conversion of a myriad of computer systems in Michigan into Bank One's common system. That leaves just one major conversion left, in Illinois, scheduled for November.
The conversion of 2.2 million consumer and commercial accounts in Michigan was a watershed for Bank One, mostly because Mr. Dimon said it would be. Earlier this year he had intimated he would be ready to do acquisitions only after the conversion - Bank One's largest and most complex yet - which involved systems that govern consumer banking services and, more critically, handle cash management for large corporate clients.
Many analysts have been critical of the company's inability to sustain revenue growth. In the past week a few downgraded their share recommendations on fears that revenues would not rise until next year at the earliest. The company remains vulnerable to eroding consumer and commercial credit quality, and its First USA Inc. credit card division continues to lose market share.
Mr. Dimon seems to be taking the negativity in stride. By all accounts the conversion, which took place over the weekend and early this week, went smoothly. It involved 5,000 Michigan-based employees and 3,000 workers elsewhere, and included the installation of 3,500 workstations in Bank One's 259 offices in the state.
"It's an execution of a battle plan," Mr. Dimon said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
The company "just passed a really big hurdle and are in the home stretch," said Susan Roth, an analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston. "A lot of people when Jamie Dimon took over said they were never going to get this done. He's proven that they are well on track."
When he was hired as the CEO two years ago, Mr. Dimon said one of his biggest immediate tasks was to convert into a common platform the crazy quilt of systems inherited from Banc One Corp. of Columbus, Ohio, First Chicago Corp., and NBD Corp. of Detroit (which merged with First Chicago in 1995).
Having disparate systems "has been one of the biggest obstacles to getting their house in order," said Jennifer Thompson, an analyst at Putnam Lovell Securities.
Over the past year Bank One has converted systems in Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, and other states, but the Michigan conversion was different. It involved a combination of consumer and commercial banking systems in one of the company's biggest markets.
"It was absolutely critical that we have the best systems available," Mr. Dimon said. Now that the Michigan conversion is done, he says he can turn his attention to Illinois and then "to building a great company."
Analysts says that when the whole process is completed - some, much smaller systems are to be converted early next year - Mr. Dimon will have an army of employees companywide with experience in the process. That training could be the key to successfully integrating a future bank acquisition, analysts say.
Mr. Dimon said he spent almost the entire weekend on the telephone with technology and systems personnel in Michigan. "We've been through a few production cycles by now on the new system, and it's almost like a normal production."
As for potential competitors, such Wells Fargo & Co., which has been moving into Chicago while Bank One has focused on the conversions, he said: "Bring 'em on. We're ready."
