Women Who Matter

Zia Askari, Syeda Beenish Khalid,
Piyali Guha, Amrita Tejasvi, Piyali Guha, Ruth Samson and DQC News Bureau

There is a U2 song that goes, 'I can't live, with or without
you'. The same can be said about the presence of women in the largely male
dominated world of technology. You can and can't live with them. There are women
who are the epitome of success overcoming all odds and others who are caught in
the bog of issues and can't do justice to their potential. Presenting the 10
most prominent women who have carved a niche for themselves in the IT world.
These women come from different backgrounds and lifestyles. But they all share
one quality-the ambition to succeed professionally. That does not mean that they
are the only ones who matter. On the contrary, there are scores of them out
there. This is our endeavor to salute the indefatigable spirit of the Indian
woman-who is learning to multitask at home and office with elan. Read on to find
out what it is that makes them stand out from the crowd

The Iron Lady

When making a list of the women who matter in the channel space the
first name that came to everyone's mind was Neelam Dhawan, MD, Microsoft India.
It is a daunting task profiling a lady, whose professional life has been perhaps
way too well charted. And if that was not difficult enough, since there have
already been reams written about her, the lady in question decided to play
truant.

It seems being the MD of Microsoft, and unquestionably the most
powerful woman in IT does seem to have its perks. She politely but firmly
refused to share our enthusiasm about the list, and left us in a Catch 22
situation. There was no way the list would be complete without her.

Which is why we decided that we would let the people who have
interacted with her come up with their observation about the lady. One woman who
is leading a Microsoft business division herself remarked once, "Dhawan can hold
her own against any man and what amazes me is that she can shout down any man in
a meeting room, oblivious to the fact that she might be the lone female there.
This is what makes her stand apart from any other female MDs."

'The Iron Lady', as a few colleagues and industry people refer to
her sometimes is not new to the IT industry. Her baptism into the IT world
happened at HCL Technologies. Dhawan started her career with them in the sales
and marketing team. This Stephanian, after a 14-year stint with HCL, went on to
join IBM as VP-Sales and Marketing in 1995. After a four year stint with them
she moved to Compaq and post their merger with HP she went on to head HP's sales
division.

In 2005 she was appointed as the MD of Microsoft India. Based out
of Gurgaon, Dhawan is responsible for the company's sales and marketing efforts
in India and also for growing Microsoft's products and services businesses. A
task that comes naturally for this post-graduate from Faculty of Management
Studies, Delhi. Since she has joined, Microsoft has successfully launched Xbox
and Window's Vista in the market. Apart from pursuing the much maligned
anti-piracy campaign, which has drawn the ire of channel partners and IT
associations across India. In previous interviews, apart from work, Dhawan has
confessed to being partial to music and likes to listen to old classics and
WorldSpace radio. Another one of her favorites is solving crosswords and
puzzles, probably the reason why her analytical skills are razor sharp. So
here's raising a toast to a person whom all women would like to emulate.

A Woman Of Substance

Having worked for a number of assignments at various organizations,
Manisha Sood has surely come a long way. She has a unique style of her own, in
terms of building and maintaining ever-lasting relationships with most of the
people she works with. Soon after graduating from Mumbai University, Sood
started her career in 1987 with Mumbai-based Intex Computers where she was
responsible for handling marketing and sales for computers. "It was an
interesting start for me as we used to give big competition to HCL. Our products
were well accepted in the market. However, I continued with Intex only for 10
months," she recalled.

After getting married to Delhi-based Ajay, she came to
Delhi and joined Methodix Systems, which gave her a chance to build her career
well and create a niche of her own in terms of handling government segment.
Others' point of view or OPV is according to Sood her strength. "It means that
whatever you do, you have to consider other's point of view as well. This
becomes very important when it comes to people management," she added. She is
also very good at conflict management and has done quite well in terms of
addressing conflicting issues with grace. Sood has always aimed high. Today also
she wants to head global sales and marketing for the organization that she works
for and not just limit herself to India or APAC region.

Her husband has always supported her. " It would not
have been possible without his support. It was my husband who always encouraged
me to take challenging job roles," she added. She has worked for Kodak where she
was involved with its digital and applied imaging division. Her sole target was
to establish the company's presence in the digital arena. " I must say that it
was one of the biggest challenges to achieve this target, but I did that with a
lot of effort and of course help from my colleagues and the channel community,"
she said. V Sukumar, MD of Bangalore based GK Vale commented, "Sood is one of
the most enterprising women I have met. She has her own style of working, which
involves building up good relationships with her customers. All these years, we
have been working closely with her and it is because of her personal touch that
we have been able to do a lot of business with her."

An Enduring Passion

Talwar believes that qualities of a business professional can neither be
enforced nor taught in any school. It is the spirit and passion inside the individual that
creates a spark, and Talwar has got plenty of it

Starting Iris Computers was a big challenge for Kamini Talwar as it was
the time when she had to prove her real strength and ability. Talwar laid the foundation
stone of Iris in 1996 and it took just one year for the company to get recognition in the
market and since then there has been no looking back. Her passion and courage soon led
Iris to gain strong ground and today it is a company worth Rs 500 crore.

The concept of starting a distribution company grew in her mind while she
was working with Apple. After serving Apple for 12 years she decided to move on and along
with Sanjeev Krishen, (Chairman of Iris Computers) gave shape to the idea.

Talwar is a lady who has an intense spirit of entrepreneurship and is full
of qualities that have led her to pilot the company with grace and dynamism. Her quick
decision making power and focused approach to all the assignments sets an example for
people around her.

She believes that qualities of a business professional can neither be
enforced nor taught in any school. It is the spirit and passion inside the individual that
creates a spark. Talwar is full of positive energy that leaves an astounding impression on
her colleagues.

Talwar recalled that being a woman, it was quite difficult to close deals
with channel partners as these men are very smart and enterprising. However, she never let
her company suffer and quickly learnt how to deal with partners. To collect payment from
channel partners, she acted smarter and cleverer than them and was always successful in
getting business on time.

The strong relationship with channel partners that Talwar had developed
during her service in Apple proved to be one of the most advantageous points when she
started operations in Iris.

Sharing her experience with the channel partners, Talwar cheerfully
expressed that being a single lady in the channel business she gets flattering response
from partners and is pampered during all the meetings. Talwar has a service background
where her father was in the air force. The news of her joining a business and then
starting her own was a bit difficult for her parents to digest. Her parents were quite
protective of her as she was always on busy looking after the business and often flew to
other parts of the country during odd hours. She got immense support from her parents in
all walks of life and this made her task much easier.

Talwar always had the passion to work since childhood and she started her
career at the age of 17 as a secretary. Later she switched to sales and since then she has
experienced all the different aspects of this profession, be it dealing with partners,
collecting payments or flying to any part of the world at anytime. She enjoys working in
the IT industry and sees it as a challenge to survive in the male dominated channel
business.

Talwar firmly believes that to survive in this spectrum, a woman has to be
strong enough to face all kinds of circumstances. She admits that in business, men are
jealous of successful ladies but one has to prove their value to get respect and has to
don a professional attitude to get a job done. She feels that it was her strong sense of
commitment and knowledge of the subject that made her successful in business and helped
her get more business as compared to her male counterparts.

She always manages to strike a fine balance between her work and home.
Her two daughters, Payal and Mahak have inherited her professional approach and are doing
extremely well in their careers. Talwar is a workaholic by nature and has confessed that
she would want to breathe her last with her boots on.

The Art Of Balancing Life

Kanwal's success mantra has three important
ingredients-dedication, teamwork and encouragement from family. Having got the right
combination of all three, Kanwal is well on her way to success

A couple of months back Gurpreet Kanwal was overlooking channel marketing
at Xerox. She recently moved to HP where she is the Country Business
Manager-Convergence Business. Her new role includes handling high-end MFDs.

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Gurpreet Kanwal Country Business Manager- Convergence Business, HP

Kanwal's father was in the armed forces and so she had spent her
childhood traveling. With family roots in Chandigarh, she spent around eight years of her
life in Mumbai. "After my PG from Mumbai, finding a job was not a problem for
me," said Kanwal. My journey in the IT industry started with Xerox," said
Kanwal. There were four other females in the Xerox sales team at Mumbai. Above all,
Kanwal's immediate boss was a lady. Her life at Xerox was a real learning phase. From
sales to handling channels, Kanwal never ever allowed her femininity to weaken her
performance.

Kanwal has one more reason to be thankful to Xerox. "I met my
better-half here. I am lucky to have such a loving and supportive husband," she
informed with a smile. At times when she feels low or can't find a solution to a
particular problem, her husband always lends a helping hand.

Even after marriage they both lived in different cities since their jobs
were in different cities. "I was working in Gurgaon and my husband was working in
Ludhiana. For around two years we supported each others professional commitments and would
meet only on weekends," said Kanwal. Even her in-laws did not pose any objection to
this arrangement. But her husband managed to join Kanwal just days before she gave birth
to their first child. "My husband always encouraged me to continue working," she
added.

Today her son is three years old. She has kept weekends for her family and
avoids any office work. "I also try and go for a week or 10 days vacation every year
just to be with my family," she added.

According to Kanwal her success mantra has three important ingredients.
Her dedication towards any work, be it professional or personal. The second aspect her
belief in teamwork. And finally the support she gets from her husband and family. "I
have been lucky to have the right mix of all these to be able to make a place for myself
in this male dominant industry," concluded Kanwal.

Married To The Business

Used to a life of luxury, it would have been easy for Mamta Jain to
succumb to life's indulgences. But instead she found the family business a compelling
draw and joined her husband in managing Kochar Infotech

When Mamta Jain got married to Jitender, she was not expected to plunge
headlong into business.But the daily discussions with her husband about his work enthused
her to join in as well. Within a short span of time she not only learnt the ropes but also
started handling several responsibilities on her own. For the past seven years now, Jain
has been involved in the operations of Kochar Infotech. In this period, she has shown her
versatility by stepping into various roles starting with handling the retail end of
business.

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MamtaJain Director, Kochar Infotech

Initially retail was not an easy business to master. Her aspiration to
work and passion to learn provided her the edge. She quickly mastered the art of driving
sales, negotiating with distributors, and other tasks. Not only did she have a great
experience working with channel partners but she also managed to develop strong business
relations with national distributors like Redington, Ingram Micro. Her high level of
confidence always supported her through all odds.

Kochar Infotech today is an IT company that provides technology and
business solutions that include customized application development and facilities
management and enterprise IT management including IT strategic planning, business process
engineering and systems architecture.

A family owned enterprise, each member is in charge of different section
and everyone performs their task independently. Jain heads HR, quality and training while
her husband heads business development and R&D and her brother-in-law heads
operations.

Jain feels that handling the HR department of a BPO is a great
responsibility, as she has to manage 500 people. BPO was a new experience to Jain and it
was her zeal to succeed that fueled her with energy and power.

Working in a male dominated industry was never an issue for her. In fact
she has attended meetings and conferences at a stretch where she was the only lady
present. Sharing her memories about one such incident Jain remembered that once HP had
taken a team of 100 distributors to Greece for an incentive tour and she was the only
woman. Men in the team were surprised and praised her for her courage.

Over the last seven years, many developments have taken place in Kochar
Infotech and being a part of all those enhancements is something that she takes pride in.
Jain believes that these days' women are taking the challenge of leading the IT
industry and they have the courage and capability to do it. She feels that a woman has to
be strong enough to maintain her stand because in the male dominated arena one has to go
through lot of obstacles and she should be stern to face everything.

Banaras Ki Prarthana

Born in the lap of luxury, Gupta was well satisfied with life. But that
did not stop her from playing an active role in Cache Systems and carving a niche for
herself in the IT industry

Born in 1970, in India's most preferred pilgrimage
destination-Banaras, Prarthana Gupta was never deprived of any luxury. "I did
not belong to an orthodox family and I was always told to believe in myself," said a
confident Gupta, CEO, Cache Technologies.

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Prarthana Gupta CEO, Cache Technologies

After completing her degree in engineering in 1989 from Amrawati
University, Maharashtra, life was not easy for her in Banaras. "There was hardly any
scope for an engineer and a female one at that. So I shifted to Delhi and I met a college
friend who helped me get a job in the company where he was working. This was the start of
my professional life," informed Gupta.

When in 1991 her then boy friend Alok whom she married later in 1992
started Cache Systems in Mohammadpur (New Delhi), Gupta was roped in. In 1993 the company
evolved as two different companies named Cache Digitech and Cache Technologies. The former
takes care of service related issues for the company's clients and latter is an
authorized IBM service partner and an exclusive distributor of the entire range of
IBM-Lenovo products.

"I really love my job because of the different type of people I get
to interact, which includes channel community, customers and vendors. But yes, there are
times when I get put off with the shortcuts available in business dealings. Yet I
don't feel like retiring and neither do I succumb to the situation," added
Gupta.

Though Gupta is a very strong woman, being a female there are times when
she gets emotional. She gets exhausted and panics about small things, but her husband is
there to help her beat those low times. "Alok is a very cool and calm person. He
always advise me not to worry about a particular issue or a problem," she added.

Gupta believes that it is very difficult to survive in this industry being
a woman. "I am growing at a very slow rate as compared to other people. But the only
satisfaction I have is that I follow transparent business policies. For me, success needs
to be complemented with mental satisfaction," she said. Customers have always
supported her style of working. But yes, she agrees that the channel community is really
difficult to handle. In the beginning, she faced weird reactions from the industry where
she was kept away from any responsibility because she was a female. But, now things have
comparatively improved.

In spite of all the difficulties Gupta has been setting goals after goals
for herself. From a humble start, today Cache has seven offices in India; two in Delhi,
and one each in Pune, Noida, Gurgaon, Mumbai and Chattisgarh. In this long journey, the
biggest contribution to her success has come from her two daughters-Shradha and
Samridhi. Gupta always considers her customers as her God. As far as her future plans are
concerned she said, "We really want to increase our company's turnover and open
five more offices this year."

Breaking All Barriers

Roy was nicknamed as a Royal Bengal Tigress by KS Vishwanathan, the then
National Sales Head of Wipro Infotech for her overall performance. Her aggressiveness is
often seen as a quality to be matched by her peers

She is young, dynamic and heads the channels operation of Intel in eastern
India. With a never say die attitude, Sangeeta Roy commands respect from those in
business. Roy has climbed great heights in her career within a short time, something that
many of her male co-starters couldn't do. Roy is the single point of contact for
Intel's channel business in eastern India. She is responsible for maintaining channel
market segment in the region, driving the addressable market growth and marketing
programs. Roy ensures that she maintains a healthy product supply in the region. While her
job role mainly revolves around channel account management, development and growth of
Intel business, she also guarantees enhancement of membership to tertiary cities and
expansion of the existing channel setup.

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Sanngeeta Roy Business Manager, Intel

A postgraduate from Calcutta University after completing her MBA Roy
started her career in the field of marketing. Her first job was with Jalan Infotech, which
she joined in 1999. Later on she moved to Wipro in 2001 wherein she was responsible for
both channel and enterprise businesses for the next five years. Finally in September 2005
Roy joined Intel to manage its channel business in East. "It was my own decision to
build a career in sales and marketing. I have always been thrilled by the sheer challenge
and dynamism that this field is associated with. I have always enjoyed handling customers
and cracking deals with them," said Roy. According to her, the changing industry
trends and market dynamics can be termed as some of the bottlenecks in IT business.
However, the most challenging aspects of the job as she pointed out are maintaining
consistent customer/channel satisfaction, healthy business relationships and keeping pace
with constant technology changes. Being a woman in an industry, which is for sure a male
dominated one never mattered to her. "I don't agree with the general belief that
sales and marketing is a hardcore male oriented work profile. Although the domain is a
male dominated one, I believe that women can equally handle the challenges and pressures
associated with it and excel in their jobs," remarked Roy. She is among the fortunate
women, who have never faced any problems owing to their gender, in their career till date.
Rather, as she pointed out, she has always earned accolades for her work and respect from
all her partners, clients and colleagues. "Being a woman has helped me in many ways
as men have always looked up to me with high regard," she said. "When I had
joined Wipro, the sales team did not have many female employees. The acknowledgment and
encouragement that I received there for my performance from the higher management has been
a highly motivational," she added.

One incident which she recalled with fondness and which has been her
continuous source of inspiration. "I was titled as a Royal Bengal Tigress by KS
Vishwanathan, the then National Sales Head of Wipro Infotech for my overall
performance." The team in which Roy was working was male dominated; in fact she was
the only woman team member. "And my performance had given all the male co-workers a
real challenge to outperform and achieve their targets. It actually tickled their male
egos to do better than me," she said.

Changing Tracks Efficiently

From a VP in Targus Technologies to program manager in Wipro, Banita
Shrestha has proven that she can take on new job roles quite efficiently. While she misses
the dynamism of the trading world, she is glad to be associated with a brand like Wipro

Having being in the IT industry for 14 years in various roles, Banita
Shrestha has learnt almost all the tricks of the trade. And while she was at it she also
learnt how to carve a niche for herself in this male dominated industry.

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Banita Shrestha Program Manager, Wipro

Shrestha recently joined Wipro as a program manager where she manages the
account for Hutch. According to Shrestha her new assignment is helping her in gaining
various new experiences every day.

The sparkle in her eyes reveals the inherent ambition to be the best in
whatever she does. And it is this confidence and the deep understanding of business that
often jolts her male colleagues. However, all this confidence and knowledge has come
through a lot of hard work. Over the years, Shrestha has realized that a professional
woman must be strong enough to break the ice and prove her skills in all fields. Only then
can she stand independently and create a path of her own. Putting this ideology to
practice she believes in interplaying these elements to empower her. She believes that
prioritization is needed in every walk of life. Ultimately, she believes, not just the IT
industry, but men in general dominate the entire society. Some of them have difficulty
tolerating the success of women around them.

She cheerfully reveals how in her professional life she has come across
instances where certain men cannot accept a woman as their boss and where this grudge has
had some far reaching consequences.

She considers Neelam Dhawan to be her idol who, according to her, has
created insecurity among men in all the regimes where she has been associated. She
believes that a woman should develop a power that creates a visible impact that does not
need any trumpet blowing. Shrestha has tried to get exposure in all fields of IT-be
it backend handling operations, accounts, technical support, marketing or managing a team
of men. Her philosophy of life is to strive for the best and be satisfied with your
achievements.

She recalls how she has always wanted to be a part of IT industry. She
began her career by joining the faculty in SVAM Software in 1993. Her next job was at
First Computers as a counselor, a move that changed her completely. In this position she
got a chance to interact with big brands, which enhanced her morale and helped her get a
focused approach. From here she moved to Targus Technologies, and was among the seven
people who helped the company grow and achieve its current status.

She quickly rose in the ranks and became a VP, leaving an impression
Rising in the ranks She took it as a challenge to give a shape to Targus from the bottom
up, as it was the time when she could prove her potential. She did a brilliant job in the
company and rose to a level where she has left an impression in whatever she did.

Shrestha firmly believes that a woman should keep her options open so as
to explore and achieve an identity for her own.

Against All Odds

An accident changed the course of Banerjee’s life. But it did not
stop her resolve of doing something big in life. On the contrary, it spurred her to
greater heights

Banerjee is leading the channel business of Samsung’s IT division
across eastern India and is responsible for handling the sales of products including
monitors, hard drives, optical drives to Samsung Star Partners in the region through
national distributors. Banerjee also acts as a mediator between partners and the company
headquarters. She is accountable for handling and resolving channel-related issues as well
as market mapping and planning.

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Sanchari Banerjee RSM-IT Sales, Samsung

Hailing from the industrial township of Durgapur, Banerjee completed her
graduation from Calcutta University in Botany. She dreamt of becoming a software
developer. But due to an accident, she was bedridden for about two consecutive years.
Banerjee considers this accident as the turning point in her life as it made her a strong
and determined individual. She had faith in her inborn interpersonal skills and ability to
easily mix with people, thus she concluded that sales and marketing was the job for her.
It was a field where she could excel and prove herself. After completing her GNIIT course,
Banerjee started her career in sales. In June 2000, Banerjee joined IT distributing
company DSIvynet, a partner of IBM, as a sales representative. "The learning started
there," she said. Her six months stay in DSIvynet was followed by another six months
stint at Iris Computers after which she joined Tech Pacific (now Ingram Micro) in 2001.
For Banerjee the two-year stint at Tech Pacific proved to be a real career-break. "I
was the first woman to join the company as a hardcore field sales representative. I am
grateful to K Rajen, DGM—Sales, Tech Pacific for his faith in me," informed
Banerjee.

In 2004, she joined Wipro after which she joined Samsung in October 2004,
as Sales Head for all Samsung’s product range in East. "I was offered a very
lucrative position by Samsung which was hard to reject and I felt that this would be a
crucial decision which would take me further," she said. In March 2005, she was made
RSM—IT Sales, East and since then there has been no looking back. "It has been
the best learning experience for me. It taught me what a channel business, vendor and a
brand means in true terms," remarked Banerjee.

Banerjee faced a lot of resistance initially from many partners after she
took charge as the RSM in Samsung. "They even raised objections and questioned why a
woman was given charge of this kind of tough responsibility," she said. But in due
course of time she proved herself and today, as she gladly pointed out, she shares a
wonderful relation with all the partners here and even those who put up the initial
resistance. "Sanchari is one of the most professional company representatives. I have
been a partner of Samsung for the last 10 years and I must admit that she is the most
competitive, aggressive, reasonable and proficient RSM that I have worked with,"
commented Sanjay Agarwal, Director, Berlia Compu System. "Her professionalism and
competence speaks for herself. I recollect the time when she had joined, Samsung was going
through a very bad phase. Business was not doing well. Looking at it from that point of
view, she has been extremely successful in pulling up the brand image, solving all
problems, reviving the accounts and increasing business. All credits goes to her," he
added.

Confidence: Her Success Mantra

In just about a decade of working in the industry, Pandey, who is
fondly known as Bhabhiji by her peers, has created a niche for herself. Ask anyone in the
industry about this woman and the words they will use to describe her are—confident,
smart and extremely knowledgeable

Renuka Pandey of Kanpur-based Sun Corporation is a determined woman.
Born and brought up in Chandigarh, Pandey’s father was an air force official whose
wished his kids to get a good education and settle down comfortably. But Pandey surpassed
all his expectations. Her willpower saw her doing extremely well in school. She bagged her
first job teaching math and Sanskrit to class 10 and 11 students. She recalled, "I
was young, fresh out of college, earning good salary and teaching to students who were
just a few years younger to me."

In 1998, she got married to Ravi and they shifted to Kanpur.
That’s when life took a 360° turn. Together, the duo toiled, often working 15 to 20
hours a day, to plant the seeds of their first company, which they christened Sun
Corporation. Their efforts paid off big time. "We saw bumper growth dealing in
consumables. The first company we partnered with was Wipro," stated Pandey.

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Renuka Pandey Proprietor,Sun IT Shop

Despite a male-dominated field, she enjoys every bit of her work and
takes it as a challenge. "Initially I did face some problems working in this industry
but that is not the case today. In fact, now, in most instances I feel I have the upper
hand," stated Pandey confidently. She looks after all aspects of her company, whether
financial or sales related. No wonder then that she has created a niche for herself in the
industry, so much so that she is well known in the Kanpur IT circle as
‘Bhabhiji’. "She was given the title during the time we started operating
our business. Everyone in the industry knows her well, and respects her, from resellers to
distributors. Its like one huge family," shared Ravi.

Last year the Pandey’s expanded their business to start a retail
store called Sun IT Shop. "I am very proud of my wife. She looks after both the
companies. Not only does she have good technical knowledge, she is an excellent proprietor
and has all product prices at the tips of her fingers," said Ravi. "I met Renuka
during my trips to Kanpur to meet our channel network there. She comes across as a very
confident woman who has excellent knowledge about vendors, distributors and brands,"
stated Mukesh Choudhary of Ingram Micro.

So how does this busy woman balance her personal and professional life?
Pandey has two school going children, and working from an office-cum-residence she
balances both her responsibilities efficiently. And she has a word of advice for all the
woman out there. "Everyone should do something and not sit idle. No one can stop you
from doing what you want to do. Most importantly, be determined and don’t let men do
the dictating," asserted Pandey. Finally, her mantra in life is simple—whatever
you do, do it perfectly. Then only will you acquire confidence.