Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) hired Linda Dillman in 1991 through an acquisition, and she eventually became the Chief Information Officer of the world's largest retailer. Wal-Mart, in many ways, transformed the power of information to gain incredible efficiency and insight into supply, demand and supplier logistics under Dillman's watch. in 2006, however, Dillman took on the post of benefits and Risk Management -- not her specific cup of tea. One must wonder why she took the post, then?

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE: AMD) has hired former Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) executive Ahmed Mahmoud as its new chief information officer. Mahmoud was recently a VP of Information Technology at Dell and had spent 13 years with the computer maker. This is a promotion for Mahmoud and a steep loss for Dell -- although Information Technology executives don't seem to share the media limelight regarding executive moves like CEOs and COOs do.

It's a short move for Mahmoud, moving from Dell's Round Rock, Texas headquarters to AMD's Austin, Texas campus. Although this is an internal move geared to ensure AMD's global IT operations are on the scale they need to be, the move comes at a precarious time in AMD's lifecycle. The company is in a negative spin as of late as a resurgent Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) has charged back with newer, faster and less power-hungry PC processor designs than its scrappy counterpart.

AMD will, of course, survive, but the company will have to stage a monumental effort to come back at Intel with just-as-fancy PC processors at the cutting edge of its business while continuing to fight the price war that seems to have always existed between the behemoth Intel and the smaller AMD. Mahmoud's task will be to ensure that all information in the company will flow as easily as possible so that competitive advantage takes firm root inside AMD. In fact, one of the largest (if not the largest) forms of competitive advantage resides in the breadth of information borne out of a company's systems that executives can use to make the correct decisions. In that way, Mahmoud's upcoming task is formidable -- but AMD needs it now more than ever.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) announced this week that it sacked its chief information officer, Stuart Scott, over violations of the company's policies. Although it's unclear to the media exactly what policies were violated, Scott's abrupt departure suggests an infringement of pretty large proportions.

Although a Microsoft representative referenced a "violation of company policies" along with an internal investigation, the world's largest software maker announced that Scott had been terminated as as last Friday. Now, this is no middle manager -- Scott was responsible for the entire global information technology infrastructure for the world's largest software maker. Call it a high-profile executive departure, even though Scott was not a large name in executive circles.

After 17 years at General Electric (NYSE: GE), Scott came to Microsoft in 2005, so he had really not been there that long. The question now is to find out if Scott really did something that warranted his dismissal, or if the direction he wanted to take the company's global infrastructure was at odds with company policy, whatever that may be.

After almost two decades at General Electric, it's hard to think that such a seasoned executive would violate any policy in such a short time with Microsoft. Is there a piece of the story that is not being told here? We're sure to find out if dirt starts flying soon in the blogosphere.

As the nation's paper publications scramble to find new profit centers in the rapidly-changing advertising market, they could do worse than look to Ziff Davis Holdings (OTC:ZFDH) as an example.

Ziff Davis built its company on print magazines covering the electronic revolution, including its flagship PC Magazine. During the heydays of the late 1990's, when magazines routinely broke 300 pages thanks to the advertising glut, such magazines were goldmines.

After the dot.com bust, though, and with the transition of many advertisers to the internet, such halcyon days are gone. Rather than attempt to play out its string, Ziff Davis has decided to embrace the new media.

A major step in this transition was the selling off to Insight Venture Partners of its Enterprise Group, including the magazines Baseline, CIO and eWeek. What remains is a business much more focused on electronic media, positioning itself as the go-to source for technology information.

The remaining Ziff Davis Holdings Co. is a leaner, more focused company that has managed to increase its EBITDA even though its revenues have dropped. It still has work to do, staunching the bleeding from its gaming-oriented magazines and the decline in print advertising in PC Magazine. However, it seems to be on the right track, and could be worth a look-see for those who like tech stocks.