The topsy-turvy world of senior management operates on a simple principal of ‘there were 10 in the bed and the CEO said roll over'. As soon as someone gets promoted, there is a gap. It's a time for change and for career advancement. KitGuru looks back at the LinkedIn updates and listens to the recruitment grapevine.

Selling components into the channel takes specific skills and it takes a lot of experience. The pool of available talent is relatively small – hence the merry-go-round among the world's top technology companies. It's a revolving door for the right people – the ones who are in demand.

If you want to hire someone who can sell across borders, then the pool gets smaller.

So when Thorsten Doege decided that it was time to move on, who did AMD target as his replacement?

Bertrand Coquard originally managed distribution sales for Creative Labs in France, before joining ATI as its country manager. From 2004 to 2008, he was a Director of Mercators which sold Sapphire, ECS and OCZ into Spain and Portugal – so we can be sure that this silver tongued devil is a cunning linguist.

Over the past 4 years, he has helped AMD run its graphics and chipset sales in the EMEA region.

Taking over as head of EMEA Channel Sales for the component side of the business seems like the logical move for Betrand and AMD.

No word yet on where Thorsten is heading, but he's sure to be in demand.

KitGuru says: With John Byrne getting the Mega Region EVP role in the States, Darren Grasby took AMD's worldwide channel position and, with Thorsten heading off to a new challenge, that leaves Bertrand with a promotion. Will it end there?  Not likely. You can almost hear the sound of CVs being updated – both inside and outside AMD.

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