EDS taps former C&W exec

EDS chief executive officer Dick Brown has tapped a former Cable & Wireless colleague to help lead the company's turn-around initiative.

Troy Todd has been appointed executive vice president of leadership and change management at the Plano, Texas-based IT services firm. He replaces Bob Mintz, executive vice president of human resources, who stepped down last month.

Todd, 70, retired recently as the chief executive of Cable & Wireless Panama, a joint venture of Britain's Cable & Wireless and Panama's former national telephone company. Brown, the former head of Cable & Wireless, recruited Todd to work for the firm in Panama, said EDS spokesperson Diane Coffman.

"He's tried to retire a couple of times but people keep pulling him out of retirement because he is a very in-demand executive," she said.

EDS created a new job title for Todd, who will oversee employee benefits, compensation, training and development, recruiting, and performance management programs.

Coffman said Todd will also focus on employee leadership development to help EDS recoup the No. 1 slot in the services market it lost to IBM Global Services.

Prior to joining Cable & Wireless Panama, Todd served as the senior human resources executive for United Telecommunications.

He starts at EDS on April 15.