Adobe Snags Borland's Sales Head

Thompson will be in charge of Adobe's global sales organization and all customer-facing functions, including marketing, customer service and the company's partner program.

Thompson spent three years at Borland, where he oversaw the company's strategy to reduce dependence on its channel and increase direct sales. Borland recently parceled off its developer tools products into a new company called CodeGear. The revamped Borland will concentrate on the application life-cycle management software market.

Adobe, San Jose, Calif., also is a company in the midst of a transformation as it absorbs its 2005 acquisition of Macromedia. This year will include a major refresh of Adobe's flagship Creative Suite, which is being retooled for Apple's move to an Intel-based system architecture.

To fill the vacancy created by Thompson's departure, Borland promoted David Packer, who joined the Cupertino, Calif.-based company in 2005 as its vice president of the Americas. Packer will take on the senior vice president of worldwide field operations title and assume responsibility for Borland's overall sales efforts.