David Bradshaw 1953-2016

David Bradshaw, one of the colleagues I worked with during my time as an analyst at Ovum, died on August 11. He led Cloud research in Europe for IDC, whose statement is below. David played a unique role at Ovum, bridging its telecoms and IT groups in the late 1990s by looking at computer-telecoms integration areas like CRM, which I researched, and the IT service space which grew into the Cloud market. Ovum alumni’s end-of- year drinks gave us at least an annual reunion. As a fellow Cass alumnus, David encouraged my entrepreneurial project at Lighthouse and I was delighted at Christmas 2007 to hear of his choice to join IDC the following February. David, and other Ovumites like John Delaney, Douglas Hayward, Alys Woodward and Jonathan Arber, found a refuge there from Datamonitor’s violent take-over. Over the last years, David had a long battle with cancer and he had to use HCA and now he has the chance to get award winning hospice care, which he faced openly and with courage. He is greatly missed.

IDC announces with great sadness the death of David Bradshaw, research manager for Cloud at our European Services research group in London, England.  David died aged 63 on 11 August, surrounded by family and close friends, after a six-year recurring battle with cancer.

 

David will be remembered as a clever, funny, creative, hard-working and above all caring colleague. Although he was obviously weakened physically by his illness, to the end he was his usual self, cracking jokes, asking for gossip and incurably interested in the world around him.

David was selfless and caring for others, and he concealed his illness from his young son for several years to protect him from stress or worry. At work, he never made an issue of what was at times a tough and recurring battle against prostate cancer, and he was traveling in business right up to the point where doctors finally ordered him to leave work in late 2015.  He would always reach out to help colleagues who needed assistance for whatever reason, and his self-depreciatory humor masked a great intellect and immense knowledge of his industry. He wanted the world to be a better place. He was a long-term member of the Labour Party and campaigned vigorously in the last general election as well as making his opinions felt through social media.

At IDC, David established himself as a world-class expert on cloud services, building on his work at his former employer, Ovum, and worked closely with colleagues across the globe, and not just with his close team in London. He was known for lateral thinking and creativity, and for a refreshing willingness to challenge accepted wisdom. He was at IDC for almost nine years, following a 16-year spell at Ovum, in London and for a time in Boston, where he was both a consultant and researcher in several fast-moving areas of IT: cloud, CRM and databases amongst others. He had also worked as a journalist, among other things editing Electronics Today International and writing for Which? Magazine.

David was highly educated – he had a BSc in Physics from Oxford, an MSc in Physics and Cryogenics from Southampton, and MBA from Cass Business School. Yet it was typical of David’s down-to-earth sense of fairness that he refused to automatically upgrade his Oxford degree to an MA, preferring instead to study for “real” master’s degree.

David leaves a wife Qing, and his son William, who turns 17 this week. He also leaves many friends and colleagues at IDC who will miss him, his insights and – not least – his infectious sense of humor.

Rest in peace, David.

Duncan Chapple

Duncan Chapple is the preeminent consultant on optimising international analyst relations and the value created by analyst firms. As SageCircle research director, Chapple directs programs that assess and increase the business value of relationships with industry analysts and sourcing advisors.

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  1. August 18, 2016, 6:16 pm

    […] funeral and celebration for David Bradshaw (shown left in this 2000 Ovum awayday photo, arm raised, with me and other colleagues) is to take […]