I have had the priviledge of our careers crossing twice here at IBM: Once during the Kfoury days when you knew everything about Finance that there was to know, and secondly during my tenure in IGS which continued into my being IBM's CIO. While there are numerous stories to be told about the ASLOB/ISD days of not making money, perhaps the best of recent time was when you and I went to Intralinks to do damage control on a bad situation and we found out that the customer had already fired us 30 to 60 days before our visit and none of our working teams had a clue ! Needless to say, the surprise created a fascinating look on your face that I will never forget, but we got through it "sort of". I always knew that you were a man of character and vision, but that day I found out how true blue you were/are as an IBMer!

John, it has been my pleasure working with you and I'm sure there are many other colleagues here at IBM who will join me in missing your dedication and passion for our business and this great company we are fortunate to be working for.

I wish you the very best of everything in your future endeavors.I am convinced that your journey will leave our community and the world better off for the many contributions you have made at work and in society addressing the needs of others.