Women on Top

Has the working culture changed in
Indian IT firms over the years? Well, it seems so. Unlike ten years
ago, now companies not only focus on increasing the annual revenue,
but also bring in the best methodologies for keeping its employees
happy. Also, until few years ago, presumably, according to a
generalist opinion, the level of trust among companies on male
employees was more than female employees. Perhaps, this is because of
a misconception which used to overpower the employers' mind
earlier, that is-women executives are weaker at multi-tasking and
largely intent to quit. But, today undoubtedly, there is a wing of
change in the corporate sector, which is evident in terms of
empowering women. In this new age of dynamic entrepreneurship which
only requires innovation irrespective of gender, to breed success,
women employees come into picture with their skills as excellent
managers in administration and in performing multi-tasking jobs,
besides successfully managing their duties at home and office. Having
adopted and accepted a pool of women professionals, who work hand in
hand with their male counterparts, working culture has certainly
changed and so has the IT sector, which is no more 'maledominated'.
Today, on an average, 30 percent of any IT company consists of women
employees. Also, it is predicted that there will be about 10 million
selfemployed women by 2015-an increase of about 70 percent since
2005. Since conditions are increasingly lining up to help these women
succeed, including corporations being ever more eager to work with
women-owned companies, the future for a woman entrepreneur seems very
bright indeed. Today, the educated women do not want to limit their
lives in the four walls of the house, they demand equal respect in
all professional spheres as well. However, Indian women have to go a
long way to achieve equal rights and position, because of the
socalled 'male dominative tradition', which is deep rooted in the
Indian society. But, in spite of all the social hurdles, many women
have become successful in their works. These successful women have
gained name and wealth for themselves with their hard work,
diligence, competence and will power.

NUCLEUS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN WOMEN

Entrepreneurship is one of the toughest
tasks in anyone's life. But, with the changing scenario across the
world, this seems to have become a very easy job. The most
inspirational factor is that, over the past two to three years, the
number of women entrepreneurs has grown unexpectedly in India. Even
if, till today, there are only a few companies, where women can be
found at the leadership position; it would be hard to believe that
the number has not significantly increased. It has also been
witnessed that now-a-days, fund managers take women entrepreneurs
more seriously than men. Supporting this statement, one of the great
American writers, Connie Glaser, in her book 'When Money Isn't
Enough', reports that male entrepreneurs are motivated by the
potential to earn lots of money, while women start their own
companies because they seek greater control over their personal and
professional lives. Today, at the end of the day nothing beats a
woman's high of looking at the bigger picture-a successful
entrepreneurial venture and a beautiful family.

WOMEN EMPOWERING CHANNEL STRATEGIES
FOR FIRMS

At a time when finding, developing and
retaining, IT talent is critical to the future of the solution-
provider community, women channel leaders send a strong message to
their peers: Why draw on only half the deck when you could be working
with the whole thing? More importantly, these influential executives
are backing up their talk with action. With job roles that cross the
spectrum of the IT channel universe - from technical gurus to CEOs,
from project managers to sales and marketing executives, women
channel leaders say that it is time to raise awareness about the
value that women IT professionals add to the organizations they work
for. And, it is time for companies to start retaining these highly
qualified professionals. It is no surprise to learn that women
channel leaders driving these efforts tend to be midlevel
professionals and executives, who have toughed it out to succeed in
their own careers and are now driven to encourage and mentor other
women in IT.

WHY DO WOMEN PREFER IT SECTOR?

In a country like India, it has been
witnessed that majority of women give priority to IT than any other
sector. Employees say, that this sector provides job satisfaction to
them, including very good annual income, with job security and a
healthy work environment. Besides these, it also provides them with
good personal growth and development since they acquire good room in
the decision making process and successfully manage the pressures to
perform and deliver targets. Also, it has a quick succession ladder
compared to the other industries. With women being equally educated
as men and having correct skill sets in place, women can excel faster
if desired. They also believe that IT sector provides the friendliest
environment for women employees. The IT services sector offer dynamic
flexibility to employees with respect to work timing. Listed below
are some of the illustrative examples of women in IT, who have made
it big in the supposedly 'male dominated world of IT'.

ASCENT TO THE TOP

Reeta Budhay, Director-Finance and
Logistics, Business Algorithms

Along with her husband Sudhir Budhay,
she started the company
Business Algorithms (B Algo) in 1988. With an entrepreneurial
experience of about 22 years, she is the only lady member of the
Vidarbha Computer Media Dealers Welfare Association (VCMDWA). At B
Algo, she looks after the business operations with upcountry dealers
and handles accounts, human resource and also coordinates for the
financial decisions of the company. The confident lady has never felt
discriminated and has had a fulfilling journey. She, rather, believes
that the Indian society is wrongly tagged as 'male-dominated' as
men are very logical and excellent to work with. Budhay said, “In
our country, there is enormous preferential discrimination and regard
for women. No customer or supplier can ever ignore a women and she
always gets a first chance to express herself.” Having high
self-worth, she stresses on the need for women to tread cautiously on
the financial front, so as to be independent.



GOING AHEAD WITH POSITIVE ATTITUDE

Sanjeevanee Prabhu, Director-HR
and Administration, Gurujiworld Technologies

A graduate in Commerce, Sanjeevanee
Prabhu started her career in 2003, after completing her MBA in Finance
from Pune University. As a Director of the company, she is
responsible to interact with her employees, colleagues, clients,
investors, corporate and also travel for work, besides playing a
significant role of a wife, mother, daughter, daughter-in-law,
attending family gatherings and so on. Her success mantra is based on
her flexibility to play between 'pleasure and pressure' which is
very important to maintain a work-life balance. “I feel proud of
being a successful woman. I enjoy what I do and have a family that
supports me in all phases of my life. I treat family, home and work
pretty much the same way. My family knows how to delegate and they
themselves are the change makers,” claimed a confident Prabhu. She
believes that in the present scenario, women working is no more an
issue. She claimed that the gender ratio has changed drastically in
the past few years. It helps when women, who are heading a
corporation take the initiative, to get more women on board.



WALK BEYOND THE SOCIAL BOUNDARIES

Nidhi Sethi, Flash Business Head,
Kingston Technology India

Bringing in a wide industry experience
of nine years, the focused
Nidhi Sethi is now heading Kingston's flash business for India,
which involves end-to-end sales and coordination with distributors,
and managing the sale analysis of prices of flash products. She also
makes a point to visit her channel partners and develop and maintain
a relationship with them to grow the business in a healthier way.
Although she hails from a small town in Punjab, today, the confident
and ambitious Sethi has managed to set an example of the work life
balance that the modern working woman craves for. “The IT industry
still remains a male-dominated one, with not more than five to eight
percent female employees. The trend however is changing a little,
with more highly educated women joining these organizations. And, in
times to come, we will certainly see equality in the corporate
sector,” claimed Sethi. The extrovert Sethi believes in bringing
passion to work, and keep creativity and innovation going.



STRUGGLE FUELS SUCCESS

Kavita Valawalkar, Head-Operations,
Nexsus Techno Solutions

Agraduate from Mumbai University with
almost 10 years of experience in managing admin operations in IT
sector, Kavita Valawalkar is now the Head of Operations in Nexsus
Techno Solutions. With a whole-hearted determination and confidence,
Valawalkar has managed to establish a prominent position for herself
in the corporate sector. She believes that hard work and clarity in the
thought process would
definitely help a working woman to climb the success ladder in any
industry. Being a successful homemaker and professional, Valawalkar
believes, “Flexibile policies in an organization aid a woman in
handling home responsibilities, which further ensures loyalty to the
organization, committed/dedicated work responsibilities towards
organization and long-term retainership. If you educate a woman you
educate the
community.” Explaining about the growing number of women in the IT
sector, she said that there is a change in the thought process of
women in our society. Along with the handling of larger
responsibilities at home or family, they also deal with their
professional life, which usually has a higher bandwidth in terms of
time consumption.



LEAVING NO STONE UNTURNED

Prerna Gaur, CEO and Director, PRS
Comptech

Challenges have always been a positive
impetus for Prerna Gaur. A
post graduate in English, Gaur took up IT as her area of expertise.
She has been a decision maker of the firm PRS Comptech and has always
played an instrumental role in the sales and purchase of computer
hardware and branded peripherals. She also looks after the overall
sales and services support of the company. It was quite deterring for
a lady, who has opted for a male-dominated profession. The factors
which contributed to her success throughout her career include-
straightforwardness, faith in hard work and clear dealings, strict
administration backed up by a caring and loving nature. She
commented, “Working in a male-dominated society has never been a
hurdle. In fact, people used to be surprised when I used to go for
installations of PC's, trouble shooting etc. It was highly
appreciated by the female customers and I won their confidence and
support. I handle pressure with calmness and by decentralizing work,
I am a stickler for perfection in my work and expect the same from
all subordinates, male or female.” Furthermore, Gaur dreams of
encouraging more women to make career in business.



CONVERT CHALLENGES INTO
OPPORTUNITIES

Sushmita Das, Country Manager-India,
Kobian

Graduated from Delhi University in
Applied Science, Sushmita Das, who
is now the Country Manager-India, Kobian started her career as a
Microbiologist. She moved to Singapore in 1999 and started her IT
career with Kobian. Her prime responsibilities include handling the
Indian sales team, strategic planning with national and regional
distributors and devising marketing and promotional activities for
the growth of brand 'Mercury'. Experienced in leading a team to
grow, she believes in the saying-'When the going gets tough, you
get tougher'. “My mistakes and failures have been my biggest
teachers and have shaped me better to achieve success,” affirmed
Das. Being meticulous and having the zeal for perfection has always
driven Das to complete her work successfully. Seeing the huge growth
of the women workforce in IT industry, Das commented, “Women have
come forth not only at the middle management level, but have grown to
the senior levels too. Although the number of women bosses in IT
industry is less, but soon the equations shall change.” She
commented that a woman has to constantly prove herself to her peers,
seniors and to herself. And, striking this balance of inner strength
and the strength to be shown to external world is the biggest
challenge that a woman has to take up and go ahead.



TAKING THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

Nidhi Sehgal, CEO, Klassic Computech

Chasing her dreams of being an
entrepreneur, Nidhi Sehgal along with
her husband established Klassic Computech in 1998 and today she looks
after the overall business operations of the company. An English
Graduate from the Jamia Milia University, Sehgal has been optimistic
throughout her career. A confident and committed Sehgal has always
acted in sync with her beliefs. She always believes in putting an
honest effort into her work and does not miss a chance to learn
something new, even from her subordinates. She believes in living for
today and is very certain to take the company to new heights with all
her efforts and positive attitude. On dealing with men at work, she
commented, “I always work with ease and confidence in this so
called male-dominated society. We just have to drop this male/female
attitude at work to be professional.” Sehgal has set an example for
other women by proving that the road to success might not be a bed of
roses, but is certainly treadable.



NEVER A SMOOTH SAILING, BUT
REWARDING

Seema Shetty, Director-Operations,
Essen Vision Software

After completing her BSc in Mathematics,
Seema Shetty completed a
certification course in System Analysis and joined Quantum Systems
&
Software. Leveraging her business experience and exposure to several
challenges, she met Nityanand Shetty in 1994, who had similar
entrepreneurial aspirations as her. And, in the following year,
together they founded Essen Vision Software. Having laid the
foundation of the company, Shetty has trodden a struggling path to
find a foothold in the market proliferated with big names. “Equipped
with confidence, my past experience and an undying motivation to
propel my organization, I surpassed every hurdle. In retrospect, my
success can be attributed to my eagerness to learn, my interpersonal
skills and my ability to constantly reinvent myself in this dynamic
ever-changing industry. Also, I am glad that I was born in a place
like Mumbai where, if once you have proved your mettle, you don't
really face any gender bias. My confidence in my skill set enables me
to overlook the gender aspect. My interactions with my male
colleagues are no different than those with my female colleagues,”
explained the confident Shetty. She believes that women should
prioritize their personal and professional goals and then take the
requisite measures to pursue those goals.



STAMP OUT THE FEAR OF FAILURE

Kamini Talwar, Director, IRIS
Computers

Associated with the IT Industry for over
16 years with extensive
experience in sales of Apple and IBM compatible computers, Kamini
Talwar is now the Director of Delhi-based Iris Computers. She handles
sales and reseller channels management for all products distributed
by the company. She has developed an extensive and loyal network of
resellers for Iris over the last 12 years. Talwar has overcome
several hurdles in her career with sheer determination and hard work.
“A rewarding career has always been a top priority. My job is a
highpressure one and I devote a lot of time to my job,” said
Talwar. Confidence has always added a zing to her personality. She
said, “To be a successful entrepreneur, you must have the bravery
to give it a go. Starting a business is a big risk, and women
aspiring to do so, need to have that conviction to overcome the early
hurdles. So a woman should have a key ingredient to boost herself up
and try again and again.”



BOLDNESS IMPLIES ADOPTING BUSINESS

Mamta Jain, MD, Kochar Infotech

With an industrial experience of more
than eight years in retail, IT
and ITeS Mamta Jain is now the MD of Kochar Infotech. Having been a
quick learner of the tactics in the sales, she handles more than
3,000 employees of the company at four locations at present. Her
focus and commitment to business has helped her to negotiate with the
national distributors and channel partners. Besides handling one of
the strategic positions in the company, she was never affected by the
rising challenges which are prominent in this male-dominated
industry. Hailing from a small city like Amritsar, Jain claimed of
being exposed to the best education which gave her proficiency, which
in turn doled as an edge for her to be an entrepreneur. She has
demonstrated her versatility by stepping into multiple roles in the
company. Currently, she is looking forward to get into the
international market with her company's products and services
portfolio.



A TENACIOUS LEADER

Pallavi Kathuria, Director-Server
Business Group, Microsoft Corporation India

Director of the Server Business Group
at Microsoft India Pallavi Kathuria is responsible for driving and
influencing performance as well as long-term success of Microsoft's
server business in India. She also owns Microsoft engagement with IT
Pro community in India. Kathuria started her career with Microsoft in
1995. At Microsoft, she has also held product management and business
strategy responsibilities with MSN and services responsibilities with
Microsoft Consulting Services (MCS) and Premier Support. Before
joining Microsoft, Kathuria worked as a design engineer with
PCL/Altos in India. She has also been a part of the product
management team with Nokia in Finland. “Switching instantly and
wonderfully between the role of an entrepreneur and that of a mother,
it is truly a blessing to have a husband, who supports you in all the
choices you make and equally understanding children,” said a proud
Kathuria. She completed her Bachelor's degree in Electronics
Engineering from Delhi Institute of Technology in 1993. She holds a
degree in Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Duke's Fuqua
School of
Business. Striking a balance between her professional and her
personal life, Kathuria enjoys spending time with family, reading and
traveling around the world.



SAY YES TO YOUR DREAMS!

Manasi Saha, CEO, Macaws Infotech

For Manasi Saha, CEO of Kolkata-based
Macaws Infotech, it is
certainly her 'never say die' attitude that has always encouraged
her to take her business to new heights. Macaws is now one of the
leading security solution providers with more than 300 customers in
the country. Prior to starting Macaws, Saha served as a regional head
with an anti-virus company. After marriage, when most women are happy
to settle down, Saha with her 16 years of industry experience,
decided to start a business of her own. When she started Macaws in
1998, she had nothing, but the experience of working with a security
company and the determination to win. Saha's greatest asset is her
faith in her work. Her sincerity and straightforwardness are her
strong points. Being a woman, her core strength lies in her caring
and loving nature. Her meticulous nature, time managing ability and
family support has made her sail through all disarrays.



CARVING A FORTE FOR HERSELF

Suchita Vishnoi, Head-Marketing,
Trend Micro

An extrovert, Suchita Vishnoi, who
looks after the marketing strategies of Trend Micro, loves to
interact with people and is very emphatic. With this friendly
attitude, she has always managed to be an understanding business
leader who helps her team members to work and achieve the desired
goal for the company. She does not believe in asking for concessions
as a professional, just because she is a woman. Her advice to other
women in the industry is to get used to the long working hours and
not worry about gender benders. In fact, being a woman has always
worked in her favor as customers are more courteous to the fairer
sex. Explaining about women being a key and vital part of their
workforce, Vishnoi claimed, “Participation of women in the
workforce is seen as a critical enabling factor for continued growth
of the industry. HR practices such as transportation policy of a
company besides flexible working hours and leave policy play a major
role in attracting women in an organization. Other practices that
women workers appreciate are antiharassment policy, healthcare and
awareness programs, women lounge or recreational activities.”