Mahmoud is new AMD info officer
AMD's new CIO is expected to keep its competitive edge on the level.
Ahmed Mahmoud, erstwhile Dell Inc. vice president for information technology, is the new chief information officer of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD).
The appointment of Mahmoud, who spent the last 13 years with computer maker Dell Inc., is seen by insiders as a legitimate promotion but is also viewed as “a steep loss” for his former company.
His appointment made waves recently even in an industry where the movements of IT executives do not usually get as much media mileage as CEOs and COOs do.
From his former office in Dell’s Rock Round Rock, Texas, Mahmoud will now be reporting to the nearby AMD’s headquarters, also in Austin, Texas. Seen largely as an internal effort to keep AMD’s global IT operations on its desired level, observers noted that Mahmoud’s entry comes at a shaky period in AMD’s corporate life.
Sources said AMD is currently facing serious problems due to the emergence in the market of newer, faster and less power-consuming personal computer (PC) processor designs from behemoth competitor Intel Corp. The new Intel products are reportedly giving its AMD less-advance counterparts a run for the money.
But observers predict that AMD will endure the stiff competition. It will, however, have to come with equally-fancy PC processors that will match up with the Intel newcomers at highly competitive prices.
The assignment at hand for Mahmoud would be to set up an efficient information system within AMD that should supply the company’s top decision-makers with accurate and undated data at lightning speed to keep AMD’s competitive edge on the level. The task appears daunting but that seems to be what Mahmoud’s new company needs badly from him now more than ever.
