Johnny Ansell

Indirect sales director, HP Enterprise Group, UK&I, Hewlett Packard

What was the worst job you have ever had?

A book-keeping role, working in the crypt of a church for six months.

Which actor would you pick to play you in a movie of your life?

Tom Hanks, because while I'm old (44), I'm still a kid at heart; he played a similar role in Big.

What do you do as your party trick? I never have a hangover.

What is your favourite chocolate bar? Snickers.

What has been the highlight of your career to date? Leading HP UK&I Networking and making it a great success.

Has 2014 been a good, bad or ugly year?

Good. A new role, and HP UK&I is doing great.

How would you explain the IT channel to a stranger without boring them to death?

Dealing with some of the brightest and most ruthless people in the IT industry, always looking at how to make money but at the same time have amazing relationships with customers.

Aside from the channel, my dream career would be… I would love to have my own restaurant.

What major issues will the channel face in 2015?

The channel will need to identify areas where they can gain efficiencies and improve profitability. A key focus area will be cloud computing and finding the right vendors to partner with. At HP we believe that selecting the right cloud vendor is about choice in delivery model and technology platform, confidence in a reliable and secure cloud product, and consistency in architecture, consumption model, and go-to-market conversation - and that's why we have built our partner Converged Cloud portfolio, based on exactly that.