Paul Harrison

Career so far: I'm coming up to my 10th anniversary at Dell. I've been in my current position for the past two years. Prior to joining the commercial channel, I held sales leadership roles in the sales segments, including the public and mid-market. I originally joined Dell from IBM to drive storage sales. I spent almost eight years at IBM, primarily in the storage sales division.

If you could be anyone else for a week, who would you be and what would you do? Chris Hughton, Newcastle United's manager. I would do exactly what he has been doing. Can't fault the guy for anything.

What would you have as your last meal? Beans on toast, with a dash of worcester sauce, and maybe some grated cheese if we're really pushing the boat out.
What is the best corporate jolly you have ever been on/taken partners on? My present and previous employers don't go in for extravagant corporate hospitality. The most productive ones have typically been the more intimate ones, where we've been able to build personal and commercial relationships.

Do you see the cloud as a threat or an opportunity? It's a huge opportunity. The cloud has become an overarching term that seems to mean many things to many people. However you interpret the cloud, all IT solutions providers have to skill up to increase their ability to offer end-user customers unprecedented agility, scalability and configurability.

Have any of your predictions come true this year? We really braced ourselves for an explosion in desktop virtualisation, and that's been the case.

What do you see as the channel's biggest challenge in 2011? Flexibility - whether that's commercial, technological or logistical.

What is the best part of your day? It's a cliché, but closing off the day knowing that my team have made progress and enjoyed success. A fiscal quarter is 63 selling days: if you can make the majority of them good days, then you know you've got an energised team, motivated partners and satisfied end-user customers.