Mark Hughes

Career so far: I held various channel positions at AST Computers and LG Electronics, spent seven years at IBM, and have had brief spells at BT Engage IT and Interface. I'm now at Hitachi Data Systems and loving it.

If you could be anyone else for a week, who would you be and what would you do? Alan Sugar. I'd fire people I do not like and transfer all his money to Mark Hughes on the last day of the swap.

What would you have as your last meal? A KFC bargain bucket.

What is the best corporate jolly you have ever been on/taken partners on? I spent four days in Reims, champagne tasting at Dom Perignon, Moet and Chandon, and several other places that are now just a blur.

Do you see the cloud as a threat or an opportunity? It's a great opportunity for the right companies.
Have any of your predictions come true this year? I landed a great channel job with a really progressive vendor.

What do you see as the channel's biggest challenge in 2011? Making the right decision on what vendors to back to secure their future.