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Background: After her post-graduation in sales and marketing from National
Institute of Sales, Delhi, Kaur got married to Gagandeep Singh Sapra, Founder,
System3 Net Technologies. With an enthusiasm to prove her business acumen, she
decided to join her husband's business. “I was not satisfied with my life at
home and always found the corporate world full of challenges and opportunities,”
she noted.
Job Profile: Kaur started the Internet Data Center (IDC) division in System3.
“When I got married, System3 used to co-locate all its servers and its
customers' servers on a large ISP. I thought it made much more sense to have an
IDC and started our own network operated center (NOC) and IDC teams.”
Taking a small business to new heights was a challenge for the couple. “The
challenge was to grow the business, and survive the losses in the early stage of
set-up.” Today Kaur is proud of the fact that System3 is the only remaining pure
IDC player in the business. “Everyone else has either packed up, or moved their
servers out to an ISP,” Kaur said happily.
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| Harpreet Kaur,
CEO, System3 |
Challenges: Being a successful woman entrepreneur in an industry dominated by
men is a big challenge in itself. “Whenever I used to visit the sites and ask
the guys to work properly, they would not take me seriously. So one day, I
decided to learn about the challenges faced while installing a network and
actually went into the manholes and the drenches of the factory site, helped
pull the cable, crimp it, waterproof it and get the network going. Since then,
nobody in my organization has challenged me when I tell them to do something in
a certain manner,” said Kaur proudly.
Also, balancing family life and work was also a tough job. In the beginning,
Kaur was besieged by guilt that she was not being fair to either and was
ignoring one for the other. But with the support of her in-laws and her husband,
she learnt to juggle the two.
Being faithful to work is what that her mother-in-law has taught her, be it
at home or office.
Strengths: Kaur's husband has been her biggest strength. “He has never told
me that I cannot do a particular job because I am a woman. He has always been
optimistic that I would manage to handle even the most difficult of jobs like
climbing an 80ft high tower or standing on a 12-inch dam wall with a 150m drop
below to install a wireless link,” laughed Kaur.
An optimist with the will power to achieve something substantial in life,
Kaur stands proud today. “I do not let setbacks in work or life affect me.
I have utmost faith in God and believe that something good comes out even in
the worst of situations. This belief gives me the strength to look at every
situation as a challenge meant to test my faith in God and myself,” held Kaur.
Hobbies: Reading has always fascinated Kaur, though she prefers fiction. “I
love to read whenever I can get time. I cannot claim that I read philosophical
or business related books. That is my husband's department. Like any other
average woman, I like reading romance and mystery,” explained Kaur.
Future Plans: With the current trend in outsourcing, hosted services, and
software as a service (SaaS), Kaur plan to grow System3's IDC business to the
biggest IDC operator in the country.
Charu Khera
charuk@cybermedia.co.in Page(s) 1
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