Steve Derbyshire

Business development director, NEC Philips Unified Solutions UK

Career so far Started working in IT for BT in 1981, working on IBM Mainframes spending seven years working as a systems programmer and datacentre manager; after leaving BT I worked for the UK arm of Comparex for a year; leaving in late 1988 to form my first business. In 1995 I started Telamon Systems, which was acquired by NEC Philips in October 2007 and I was appointed to its management team as business development director.

Do you care about green IT? Yes, although I think - perhaps a little cynically - that the green agenda is more likely to be driven by the cost-cutting agenda forced on us by economic circumstances. The two things tend to have the same means to achieve different ends - one cuts emissions to save the planet, the other cuts costs to save the company.

If you could be in a rock/pop band, which one would it be and who would you be? Almost too many choices to consider; maybe Tom Waits or Kelly Joe Phelps.

What is the best corporate jolly you have ever been on/taken partners on? Do corporate jollies still exist? It would be politically incorrect to admit to ever having been on one, but ply me with a few beers and I might tell.

Has 2009 been as bad as everyone said it would be? No. Neither was 2000 after Y2K, or 2001/2 after 9/11.

Have any of your predictions come true this year? Yes, that swine flu was just another propaganda coup.

What do you see as the channel's biggest challenge in 2010? Surviving in a world where vendors need to increase profits and market share in a tight market - will they take the easy way out and go for their partners' market share (again)?

What is the best part of your day? Getting up in the morning and wondering what the day will bring.