The challenge for David was to engage a number of peers and to demonstrate that he understood the inter-relationship of the consulting business and other parts of IBM such as our hardware and software businesses. It was this understanding and the collaborative style he used in that engagement that caused these peers to provide the critical support needed to nurture the cultural change David drove across of major countries in EMEA. He earned the respect of all.

Ginni Rometty, she is now Chairman, President and CEO of IBM Corporation worldwide. 
On David’s retirement she said:

David’s legacy as a leader – with clients, our people and important business initiatives – is unquestioned, and he never wavered on the strategic importance of what we started five years ago. Today, the strategy that bears his imprint has carried us to a new level of performance and positioned us to take the next step to market leadership.

And while he was architecting the strategy and leading the re-commitment to industry leadership, David maintained his commitment to clients like Nestle, Shell, Norwich Union, Unilever and DVLA where we delivered some of our most successful and innovative transformation programmes – many on a global scale.