Neil Murphy
UK group managing director, Bytes Technology Group
Career so far I started as a PC, then sold PCs, and now work in a company who should probably be a bit more PC.
Do you care about green IT? The environment is important but whether the carbon generated from running a computer programme is worse than that produced by a cow or a power station is something for paid civil servants to debate until they reach retirement. The last I heard was that the term "global warming" had been replaced with the term "climate change", as some parts of the world are getting cooler, not warmer. Maybe some clever person can write a computer program to help us understand what's going on. Maybe that's what they mean by green IT?
If you could be in a rock/pop band, which one would it be and who would you be? The Police! Who else? As for who, is there a Bobby in the band? If not, it's got to be Sting.
What is the best corporate jolly you have ever been on/taken partners on? I'm not sure what you mean? Corporate jolly? Do such things exist in the IT industry? If I have been on such a thing, I can't remember anything about it nor what I drank.
Has 2009 been as bad as everyone said it would be? There's no doubt that our MP's will look back on 2009 as their "annus horribilis". They had a shocker. As for our year, and as it's coming up for our 2010 budget review and to quote exactly what I have articulated to my boss recently, "no growth is the new growth".
Have any of your predictions come true this year? Yes. If vendors bite the hand that feeds them, the hand will feed someone more hungry.
What do you see as the channel's biggest challenge in 2010? Understanding where the silver lining is to cloud computing.
What is the best part of your day? Finding out one of my sales team has won a deal from one of our competitors. Big or small, it always feels good!