Paul Harrison

UK channel country manager, Dell

Career so far I have worked for the James McNaughton Group and IBM UK. I have been with Dell UK since 2001.

Do you care about green IT? Absolutely. Dell has been a pioneer in driving green IT with initiatives to reduce packaging, system energy consumption, accelerate asset recovery and recycling. Our vision is to be the greenest technology company on the planet.

If you could be in a rock/pop band, which one would it be and who would you be? The Stray Cats. Slap bass deity Lee Rocker. I have an upright /double bass at home but have a very limited repertoire. It may get turned into a drinks cabinet!

What is the best corporate jolly you have ever been on/taken partners on? It should have been England versus Romania in the France 1998 World Cup. As it was we lost 2-1 and everyone went home with long faces.

Has 2009 been as bad as everyone said it would be? It's certainly been different. Partners focused on the right solution areas such as virtualisation and consolidations have benefited from the recession acting as a catalyst for change.

Have any of your predictions come true this year? Newcastle United got relegated.

What do you see as the channel's biggest challenge in 2010? Maintaining customer intimacy and supporting organisations to embrace relevant technologies as they start to emerge from recessionary budgetary pressures. Customers will still be exercising extreme prudence and it is essential that partners are able to demonstrate a hard return and tangible value to end user customers.

What is the best part of your day? 8.30pm: beer o'clock.