Alan Hartwell

Career so far I joined Oracle in 1998 in the financial services vertical and moved to the internet solutions group in the ‘dot com' boom. After that I took over the role of Oracle Database 9i solutions sales leader for the UK and then progressed to be the vice president of marketing for the UK, Ireland and South Africa. I have also been the vice president, consulting UK, Ireland & South Africa, responsible for developing the Oracle Consulting Business of the future using Innovation as the key driver to find new markets and new ways of doing business with both existing and new types of customers.

If you could be anyone else for a week, who would you be and what would you do? I'd be Fifa president and introduce financial fair play.

Cloud - friend or foe? Friend. Change is opportunity.

Has 2011 been as bad as everyone said it would be? It has been better than others.

What would you have as your last meal? Something really difficult to find.

Who would you like to be stuck in a lift with? Someone with a really interesting life story.

Have any of your predictions come true this year? Cloud has continued to develop as a business proposition for enterprises.

What do you see as the channel's biggest challenge in 2012? Adapting the challenge of delivering IT innovation and improvement in a challenging economy.

What is the best part of your day? Early morning in the gym. I like to start the day reaching at least one of my goals.