Jason Ellis

Career so far: Vice president EMEA channel sales; senior director EMEA distribution sales; UK distribution sales manager; sales director principal distribution; outbound sales director – principal distribution; P&P Micro – sales manager.

If you could be anyone else for a week, who would you be and what would you do? I’d be prime minister. I’d have a dinner party every evening with the finest wines and handpick my guests from the world of sport, film and charity. I also wouldn’t be able to resist making a few improvements to my tax code – time permitting.

What would you have as your last meal? Anything Italian.

What is the best corporate jolly you have ever been on/taken partners on? A trip to Arizona with 25 customers – amazing location and horse-riding to breakfast.

Do you see the cloud as a threat or an opportunity? An opportunity. Vendors must help partners develop new models to ensure their investments pay off. They must also provide assurance to the partners that their customer is exactly that – their customer.

Have any of your predictions come true this year? At the start of 2010 I thought that opportunities around data protection were likely to increase for the channel and it looks like this has been the case. There have been a number of studies revealing the problems that data loss poses for SMBs. This has provided an opportunity for the channel to consult with the SMB market about how to improve their current provision for data security, management and availability in order to mitigate the risks they are vulnerable to.

What do you see as the channel’s biggest challenge in 2011? Differentiation. Partners should consider taking advantage of specialisations; it’s a great way for vendors to focus their investments and resources, and for the partner to stand out from the crowd.

What is the best part of your day? Arriving home and spending time with my wife and my baby daughter.