Darragh Richardson

Career so far Progression of marketing and sales roles in software (Sage), hardware (3Com), and integrators (Logicalis and Telindus). I returned to Ireland in 2008 to start up Irish operations for Telindus, managing all the sales and delivery operations.

If you could be anyone else for a week, who would you be and what would you do? Chief executive of Microsoft. I’d shut it down.

What would you have as your last meal? Very slow-roasted pork belly.

What is the best corporate jolly you have ever been on/taken partners on? A Gartner analyst conference in Monte Carlo, most of which seemed to consist of sommeliers and casinos.

Do you see the cloud as a threat or an opportunity? A threat – the potential end point is a small number of huge players squeezing everyone else out of the middle and offering a homogenised platform that is hard to move away from.

Have any of your predictions come true this year? Cloud hype will be (hopefully) overtaken by the realisation you have to give up a lot of control to reap the benefits and it can lock you in.

What do you see as the channel’s biggest challenge in 2011? Taking back control of the cloud hype from the analysts and commentariat.

What is the best part of your day? Putting my son to bed and reading Thomas the Tank Engine to him.