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roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and
that has made all the difference,' says Robert Frost, the American
poet, in one of his most memorable poems-'The Road Not Taken'. This
stands true for today's Indian women who believe in carving
out a career for themselves, amidst all responsibilities and odds in
the society. Gone are the days when women of our country would
hesitate to take up new roles and responsibilities, often due to the
fear that their family life may get neglected or vice-versa. Seeing
any woman sharing the same dais as any successful man in the tension
burdened corporate world, is no more a new born culture in the
country. Today, one could easily find a woman handling everything at
home as well as handling a team at the workplace. Unlike a few years
ago, today, women are known for managing the administration very
well, multi- asking jobs and successfully managing their duties at
home and office.
to a recent study by Chennai based FLEXI Careers India, sourcing only
women executives, diversity hiring intent among leading companies
have gone up by almost 500% between 2010 and 2011. Women in the IT
workforce grew from 4.21 lakh in 2006 to 6.7 lakh in 2008. According
to FLEXI, many companies today are not only going out to bring in
more women employees, they are also engaging with and trying to
retain them in new, more vigorous ways. For example, Infosys offers
its women employees sabbaticals, extended maternity leaves, and
enhanced training when they come back to the office. This has boosted
the percentage of female workers returning after childbirth to about
88%, from about a third in 2006.
company also tracks women after they return to make sure that they
are being used effectively by managers and not just being
back-benched. Today, on an average, 30% of any IT company consists of
women employees. Looking into the future, one of the research firm
predicts that there will be about 10 mn self-employed women by 2015,
an increase of 70% since 2005. Since, increasingly, conditions are
lining up to help these women succeed, including corporations being
ever more eager to work with women- owned companies, future for the
woman entrepreneur seems very bright indeed. According to a research,
the educated women now do not want to limit their lives in the four
walls of the house. They demand equal respect. Many top corporate
officials in the country corelate between women empowerment and
national GDP growth, business growth, environmental sustainability
and improved human health. They say, women already are the most
dynamic and fastestgrowing economic force in the world today, and
control over $20 tn in spending worldwide.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP ON THE RISE
to some latest researches, women entrepreneurs presently comprise
somewhere about 25% of the total number of entrepreneurs in India,
with the percentage growing every year. If the prevailing trend
continues, it is likely that in another 5 years, women will comprise
30-35% of the entrepreneurial force. With corporate houses eager to
associate and work with women-owned business, and a host of banks and
non-governmental organizations keen on helping them get going, there
has rarely been ' a better time for women with zeal and creativity
to start their own business. Endowed with the famous female intuition
that helps them make the right choices even in situations where
experience and logic fails, women have an innate flair for
entrepreneurship.
IT SECTOR IS PREFERRED BY WOMEN?
a developing country like India, over the years, it has been
witnessed that IT has become women's topmost career choice. Many of
the employees feel, unlike other sectors, IT does not only provide
them job satisfaction, but also helps in personal growth and
development since they are actively involved in the decision-making
process and successfully manages the pressure to perform and deliver
targets.
THE IT CHANNEL FRONT
again when India is almost going through another phase of recession,
and with a tough phase surmounting over IT companies, women channel
leaders send a strongmessage 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. And, it is the time when companies need to retain these
highly qualified IT channel women professionals. It has been clearly
noticed that women channel partners have helped IT companies in
marketing and selling their technologies, services and solutions in
markets across the globe. Today, there are several IT women partners,
who play a significant role in further expanding the vendor's
portfolio and customer reach.
Impeccable
Work Ethics
Jeyalakshmi
Venkatanarayanan, founder and proprietor, Universe Power Systems
from a middle-class family in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, Jeyalakshmi
Venkatanarayanan nurtured the dream of becoming an entrepreneur while
pursuing her higher studies. Her family is focused on fine arts and
hence, when she decided to enter the male dominated field of
entrepreneurship, she did not get support from her parents. But the
constant encouragement of her elder brother and her brother-in-law ade
it possible for her to excel in the power solutions business.
Driven by the passion to work in the area of power, she started
Universe Power Systems in 1997, as a business partner of Tata
Liebert. Starting with no background and prior experience, she
consistently expanded the company's customer base.
Universe has over 1,000 satisfied customers. What really connects
Jeyalakshmi to her customers is her honesty, ability to network with
people, and her charming nature. She does not rest on her laurels and
continues to expand Universe further. She does not believe in
sacrificing her career just to prove that she is a great homemaker.
“I believe if a women wants to have a career then it is the duty
of her family to extend ample help and motivate her to go after her
dream but at the same time a woman should know how to strike a
balance between her various responsibilities,” affirmed
Jeyalakshmi. She is also a friendly mother of two daughters and takes
care of her parents, family, business, dancing and teaching in a
balanced manner.
Algorithm
Reeta
Budhay, director, finance and logistics, Business Algorithms
tenacious leader, Reeta Budhay who is now the director of finance and
logistics at
Business Algorithms, believes that hard work, coupled with honesty
and ethical dealings are her biggest strengths as these have helped
her to succeed at her workplace. 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) and is responsible for
vendor purchases for the whole association. At B.Algo, she looks
after business operations with upcountry dealers and handles
accounts, human resource and also coordinates for financial decisions
of the company. Helping her team members to achieve their goals in
the company, she puts incredible time and energy in lending all
possible support to her employees. It is, in fact, one of her key
strengths, which even her employees appreciate in her. Having
considered all the hurdles in her career as opportunities, she
strongly believes in “Split the barrier, change the norm, make it
big, and become an achiever.” And, this fact, sufficiently confirms
her credentials of being a courageous leader.
and Believer
Sanjeevanee
prabhu, director, HR and administration, GurujiWorld Technologies
completing her MBA in finance from Pune University, the focused and
confident Sanjeevanee Prabhu started her career in 2003 as a
financial analyst in an organization. Strong-willed, with an acute
acumen for financial strategy, she joined her husband's company
GurujiWorld Technologies as a director of the organization. She is
responsible to interact with her employees, colleagues, clients,
investors, corporates and also travel for work. Apart from helping
the company in garnering worthy crucial deals, Prabhu has also
managed to successfully play significant roles of being a wife,
mother, daughter, daughter-inlaw, attending family gatherings and
more. She says that the biggest challenge for a working woman is to
strike a balance between her professional and family life.
Prabhu, it was the support of her family which they readily extended,
especially the unconditional support her husband provided, that
motivated her for nurturing her dreams of pursing a strong career in
this industry. She is one of the few women who refused to follow the
conventional career path and dared to pursue her entrepreneurial
dreams. Today, she feels that the entrepreneurial scenario for the
Indian women has undergone a tremendous change, which helps, as women
who are heading a corporation take the initiative to get more women
on board.
'Smile'
Nidhi
Sehgal, CEO, Klassic Computech
her self-belief of being an entrepreneur has paid-off, as Nidhi
Sehgal leads the Faridabad based Klassic Computech enhancing the
organization's performance and productivity. An English Graduate
from the Jamia Milia University, Sehgal along with her husband
established Klassic Computech in 1998. For a while she was caught in
a dilemma, faced by a lot of women, on how to strike an optimum work
life balance, and she needed to adapt to the demands of raising a
family, after sometime.
her quest for challenges and constant improvement in everything makes
her a catalyst for change, for better, in every aspect of her life
and career. She began to work part time but felt that she was not
doing justice to her career. During these times, she felt she was
given projects as they required less expertise and she couldn't
demonstrate her capabilities through them. Her zeal to establish her
career and to build her own identity dawned on her; be it in family
or work, she had always acted in sync with her positive attitude. She
smilingly says, “I believe in handling different situations or work
pressures with a sound mind, and I believe that a big smile can win
anyone.”
Number
Prarthana
Gupta, CEO, Cache Technologies
in her two decades of industry experience in the Indian IT market,
today Prarthana Gupta has become the CEO of Cache Technologies and
has been instrumental in building a strong relationship with several
vendors and end-customers to sketch a growing curve for her company.
After completing her Btech from Amaravati University, she started her
career with Delhi based QuantM Net Technologies as a service and
support personnel. And, after a short stint with QuantM Net, she
joined Groovy Communications as a systems manager.
in 1991, Prarthana along with her husband Alok Gupta started their
own company named Cache Technologies, which has created a niche of
its own. Recalling the initial struggles, she smilingly says,
“Staring company has never been a rosy journey for me as I hailed
from a service-class family. I left my job and my family was against
my idea of starting a company.” But being focused and strategic,
she went ahead with her entrepreneurship dreams and managed to
accomplish it. And, today she realizes that the decision has helped
her greatly in her career by changing her outlook towards many
things. She believes in challenging the conditions around oneself and
not limiting oneself to traditional opportunities that are reserved
for a woman in the society. Outside work, she loves spending time
with family, traveling and reading books.
Pays
Kavita
Valawalkar, head, operations, Nexsus Techno Solutions
clear demonstration of commitment and a will to succeed, brought to
fore Kavita Valawalkar as a person to watch out for. Her ability to
be upbeat and practical towards challenges turns them into worthwhile
experiences. Currently, Valawalkar as the head, operations of Nexsus
Techno Solutions focuses on operational excellence and profitability
of the company. Valawalkar enjoys interacting with her team and
believes in hard work, teamwork and 'leading by examples'.
she is a hard taskmaster who expects commitment and focus from her
team. Having almost 10 years of industry experience in managing admin
operations in IT sector, she is a BA from Mumbai University. She
believes that more women entering engineering colleges is a great
sign of India moving towards literacy and professional
accomplishments. “If you educate a woman, you educate the
community,” proudly says Valawalkar. Her strength is her confidence
and determination towards work, patience and her 'do not give up
easily' attitude.
Forever
Mamta
Jain, MD, Kochar Infotech
in a business-oriented family of Kolkata, Mamta Jain is currently the
MD of Kochar Infotech. As the bearer of one of the strategic
positions in the organization, she has also additional
responsibilities to facilitate the operational expertise of the
organization. After having been instilled with values of good
education since her youth, she started her career by handling
computer retail, where she tackled sales, logistics, after-sales
service, and complete SBU. However, Jain still believes in learning
constantly. Hence, it saddens her when young members of her team
sometimes choose not to focus on things beyond their domain of work.
She herself devotes a substantial amount of her work time in learning
new technologies, business processes, skills, and more. Dynamic and
spirited, Jain believes in challenging the conditions around a woman
in a male dominated society and not limiting oneself to traditional
opportunities that are reserved for a woman in the society.
Starrer
Prerna
Gaur, director, PRS Computech
her mother to have given her emotional strength to overcome all
challenges and walk ahead in life, Prerna Gaur, the director of PRS
Computech has played an instrumental role in the sales and purchase
of computer hardware and branded peripherals. With a bachelor's
degree in Arts and PGDCA degree taking IT as a major, Gaur is the
daughter of an eminent scientist Dr C Sandill in Bengaluru and her
mother is a homemaker. “My father has always considered me as his
fourth son, and always encouraged me in all my endeavors,”
explained Gaur.
claims to be a bit of a workaholic, juggling multiple business
accounts at a given time and wearing several feathers in her hat.
Playing the role of a winning businesswoman, and performing at par in
a male dominated profession has always motivated her. With a full
determination to achieve her entrepreneurial dreams, Gaur has even
dealt with several situations where she had frequented several
residences for troubleshooting computer problems and installations as
well. This was highly appreciated by the female customers and she won
their confidence and support. Apart from growth of business, her
mentoring and able leadership has simultaneously helped her team
members in their career as well as personal growth. “Everyone is a
leader and everyone can be a leader. One just needs the help of right
guidance to search for those skills in themselves,” she says.
'
Seema
Shetty, director, business operations, Essen Vision Software
a people's person, Seema Shetty enjoys interacting with her team
and believes in hard work. Looking back at her career, Shetty claims
that it was a never a smooth sailing, but definitely a rewarding
expedition to lay the foundation of the company Essen Vision Software
along with her husband. She believes that that a result oriented
approach, integrity and discipline at every individual level with a
desire to excel in their respective roles will automatically bring
success to one's career.
completing B.Sc in Mathematics, she completed a Certification in
System Analysis and joined Quantum Systems & Software, prior to
establishing Essen Vision. Heading the finance and business
operations and also strategizing the overall growth of Essen Vision,
she has managed to craft a trajectory for the company's growth. She
attributes all that she has learnt to the various opportunities that
came across; the main drive has been her zeal to learn new things.
Though Shetty has seen
a tremendous change in the number of women opting for a career in IT
she feels
there is still more that needs to be done. Though there are many who
join the
industry, not many women reach the upper echelons. She feels a
lot of
this depends
on the support a woman gets from both her family and the organization
she
works for.
Fighter
Sumathy
anantharam, director, Webcom Information Technology
to a middle class family in Chennai, a Physics graduate, Sumathy
Anantharam was raised to be independent since her childhood. There
was always complete support and freedom in terms of education and
career decisions. Although she is not from a business and commerce
background, she decided to take up a financial career being inspired
by her father and today, she is the director of Webcom Information
Technology. Explaining her struggles to reach up to this position in
the market, Anantharam said that she started this company along with
her husband with a small capital of about `10,000, which was also
raised by taking money from relatives and well wishers. “And, today
the hardwork, sincerity and passion to win has only raised us to this
level,” proudly said Anantharam. A person, who believes in the big
picture, she constantly lays emphasis on developing and maintaining
long-term relationship with people and motivates her team to work
towards it. And, over the years she has mastered the art of work life
balance, thanks to her family who helps her in time of crisis.
Although her work is very important for her, she spends her leisure
time with her family taking care of their education. She believes
that attaining a balance in all her endeavors is what keeps her
ticking.
Growth
Manasi
Saha, CEO, Macaws Infotech
is the sense of purpose in her stride, which pushed Manasi Saha, CEO
of Kolkata based Macaws Infotech to take the company up the ladder
amongst its competitors in the market. Not to sit still after
marriage, she decided to start her own company, Macaws Infotech in
1998. Prior to establishing Macaws, she had worked as a regional head
with an anti-virus company. The sharing of a vision with the team and
the execution of decisions and plans keeps her going ahead. Though
Saha has come a long way in her career, she still feels she has a lot
more to achieve, and on the way she will just keep looking out for as
many challenges as possible.
like success, does not come on a silver platter. Her advice to
today's budding women techies is to align their careers with their
personal lives. “Stretch and speed it up only when you can invest
more time and use your time wisely,” says Saha. Looking back she
feels blessed with the way her career has shaped up.
'Mentor'ed
Kavita
Singhal, director, Kamtron Systems
vivacious and a people's person, Kavita Singhal wanted to do
something that allowed her to interact with people while working on
the technical front. She completed her B Tech from Srinagar and
started her career in 1991 as a GET (Graduate Engineer Trainee) in
Calcom Electronics.
gaining 8 years of experience in the IT industry, Singhal along with
her husband started the software marketing organization, Kamtron
Systems. She proudly affirms, “I owe all my success to the strong
mentors I have had in my life, starting with my parents and now my
mentors at work. It was their guidance and faith in me that helped me
reach where I am today. No one is a super human being and all that
one needs is to prioritize one's work. I had quit my job for a
while as I had to look after my son, who had met with an accident.
Especially in the case of women she advocates the added advantages of
qualities like multitasking, self-awareness, and an open mind to
feedback.” Singhal believes that instead of trying to juggle
different roles one needs to prioritize the different roles and
responsibilities.
Starter
Kamini
Talwar, director, Iris Computers
a passion to work since childhood, Kamini Talwar, daughter of an Air
Force officer, started her career at the age of 17. She is associated
with the IT industry for over 16 years with extensive experience in
sales. Talwar is currently the director of Iris Computers where she
is responsible for handling sales and reseller channels management
for all products distributed by the company. Having made a point that
a woman can execute challenging tasks, and can bring about desired
business results, she has been into the hardware distribution
business for many years. She got immense support from her family in
all walks of life and this made her task much easier. She has an
intense spirit of entrepreneurship and qualities that has led her
pilot the company with grace and dynamism. She is one of the fewer
women managers in India who have significantly contributed towards
making India into a respectable IT destination. Quick decision making
power, eye for detail and focused approach to all the assignments set
an example for people around her. She is called a constant
knowledge-absorbing machine.
Manager
G
Nandini, COO, Velmayil Innfo Services
G Nandini has a rich 15-years of industry experience behind her that
reflects her attitude of following her heart and value for quality
work, constant learning, and team spirit. A leader of immense
caliber, Nandini is the COO of Coimbatore based Velmayil Innfo
Services, where she is responsible for handling the overall
operations of the company successfully. Always a person who
prioritized her career, Nandini understands the challenges of being a
good manager. “I not only need to have a well- defined vision,
mission, and the strategy to serve the customers but also be
selfless, constantly listen to the team and encourage them,” she
explained. On time delivery and quality are two keywords she
reiterates every time to her team.
back at her life's journey, she always feels a sense of
achievement. “Thanks to my family for what I am now. They have
always supported me and shown confidence in all my steps. I feel that
I have gained more confidence, developed a broader perspective of
things, and a better analyzing strength,” said the ever-focused
Nandini. Apart from winning family's support, she had to strive
hard to face the challenges of venturing into uncharted territories.
Looking at the budding women entrepreneurs, Nandini feels happy to
see the young female minds dreaming to create a difference. She says,
“It is important to dream, but it is more important to work towards
achieving your dreams, with hard work. One should never allow anybody
dismantle their goal.”
Fast
Padma
Priya Soundararajan, head, retail, Bloom Electronics
been associated with the company for the last 13 years, Padma Priya
Soundararajan (S Priya) is currently heading the retail operations of
Bloom Electronics. She believes that it takes great effort and
consistency for a woman to be a peak performer in the retail segment.
After completing her graduation in Economics from Stella Maris
College in Chennai, she started her career with HCL Infosystems and
worked for 3 years. After getting married, she moved to Coimbatore
with her husband and joined Bloom Electronics, wherein she aims to
take the company to greater and newer heights. A quick learner who
brings passion and fervor to whatever she does, Soundararajan
believes that it is very important to offer a rich customer service.
Her zeal, enthusiasm, and energy to grow ahead reflects in her
personality. As a woman, her advice to other aspiring working women
is to stay focused in life. “There are some cultural, social, and
mental barriers which might hamper the work performance of a women.
One can overcome these by being single-minded, focused, and
determined,” says Soundararajan.