Sandip Channa
Joint managing director, SysMicro
Career so far I have been in the industry for around 13 years after leaving university, and started life working for the NHS. After consulting for several years in enterprise storage and virtualisation, I became a solutions architect. Then decided it was time to move onwards and upwards and co-founded SysMicro and have never looked back!
Do you care about green IT? Definitely. I think we all need to care about green IT. And the next few years will make vendors, suppliers and customers all look at this in a more positive manner as cost will be key. IT probably consumes more per square foot than most other areas in a business and without power we would not have a lot to do. We all need to make a more concerted effort to endorse the "green way".
If you could be in a rock/pop band, which one would it be and who would you be? I have always enjoyed R&B and soul and if I had to pick one person it would James Brown. His vocals were legendary and he bought his music to life every time he sang.
What is the best corporate jolly you have ever been on/taken partners on? I have been on so many, but one that stands out is we once went as a small team for a bonding weekend in Dublin and when we returned, the office was silent for the first few days as no one would dare look anyone else in the eyes, as some had bonded too closely.
Has 2009 been as bad as everyone said it would be? Definately not. Within all the doom and gloom we have had an amazing few years of growth and 2010 looks just as exciting. I think companies that have remained focused on their customers and lean within, have kept themselves out of trouble. Creativity and thinking outside the box is a must for resellers.
Have any of your predictions come true this year? Yes, that I would be working 18 hours a day to keep up and we would need to go to more long-term hosted and managed services platform.
What do you see as the channel's biggest challenge in 2010? Everything will be a challenge in 2010 - credit, diversifying, annuity, staff morale and faith. It will be tough but not impossible to survive.
What is the best part of your day? Pressing Start then Shutdown! Then getting a big hug from my two beautiful daughters when I get home.