Justin Garlick

Managing director, Verisolve

What was the worst job you have ever had?

Doorman for a local club when I was much younger. Actually, upon reflection, that was a great job.

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

Charlie Sheen. He reflects my considered and moderate views on life - not to mention the alarming physical similarities.

What do you do as your party trick?

I can walk down stairs - on my hands.

What is your favourite chocolate bar?

All of them - I have no willpower, none.

What has been the highlight of your career to date?

The expansion of our Red Hat, Oracle and cloud channel services businesses across international borders this year.

Has 2014 been a good, bad or ugly year?

We provide specialised, channel-friendly services in Red Hat Linux, JBoss, Cloud & Oracle; you'd be hard pushed to think anything was wrong... so yes, good. I'm a huge fan of partner-based services. But me, I'm still ugly.

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

Is that even possible? However, explanation not necessary - a night out at the Channel Awards would pretty much sum it up.

Aside from the channel, my dream career would be... a shrink - people so often tell me what's wrong with them, I might as well make a living from it.

What major issues will the channel face in 2015?

Understanding what customers want and enabling the delivery of the reality over the hype. The channel needs to do what it has always done well - focus on the clients, evolve their competencies, remain innovative and not be intimidated by vendor power.