Five Companies That Came To Win This Week

AMD (Finally) Names A New CEO

AMD's top post has been vacant since the surprising resignation of CEO Dirk Meyer in January and the delay in filling the job raised concerns among AMD partners about the leadership void during a pivotal time for AMD's future and the company's ability to execute its strategy.

This week the company earned applause when it named Lenovo president and COO Rory Read as the new AMD CEO. Read, a 23-year IBM veteran, joined Lenovo when IBM sold its PC business to the Chinese computer maker in 2004 and Read is widely credited with helping build the company into a worldwide PC leader.

Dell To HP Partners: Join Us

No one ever accused Michael Dell of missing an opportunity. In the wake of Hewlett-Packard's decision to consider spinning off or selling its Personal Systems Group, Dell (the CEO) reached out to HP channel partners through Tweets and in an exclusive interview with CRN.

Seeking to recruit resellers who are worried about their future with HP, Michael Dell told CRN: "We have been on-boarding large numbers of partners globally already for the last few years. We are certainly ready to do more with [HP] partners and on-board new ones," he said. "Look at Dell. We are here to stay."

CloudSwitch Acquisition Boosts Verizon's Cloud Capabilities

Verizon this week acquired CloudSwitch, a developer of cloud software that helps businesses move applications between cloud and on-premise IT infrastructure. The move will expand Verizon's suite of cloud services and, more broadly, should accelerate adoption of cloud computing among big companies.

CloudSwitch technology lets IT organizations securely move applications from on-premise data centers to the cloud and back without re-architecting the software, eliminating a major barrier to cloud adoption.

Oracle Strengthens Its Virtualization Lineup

Oracle unveiled a new release of its Oracle VM virtualization software this week, improving its competitive stance against rivals VMware, Microsoft and other virtualization software competitors. Ever the competitor, Oracle made the announcement just days before the start of VMware's VMworld 2011 conference.

Oracle argued that its software out-performs VMware's vSphere5 software and is less expensive. Given that Oracle charges no license fee for Oracle VM, it's hard to dispute that last claim.

Check Point Details Mobile and Cloud Services Strategy

Just weeks after assuming the job of president at Check Point, Amnon Bar-Lev this week outlined an ambitious "to-do" list of changes for the network security software vendor. Those plans include new initiatives in the mobile computing arena and in SMB cloud services.

Bar-Lev is also promising a reinvigorated focus on partner enablement. That should come as no surprise: Before taking the reins as president Bar-Lev was Check Point's channel chief, meaning the company's channel partners now have an advocate in the corner office.