They Have IT In Them

In the New Age scenario with the Third Wave

surging, and technological advances like Net-surfing proving to be an equalizing force,

the distinctions based on culture, creed, or sex are fast disappearing. An example of an

equalized texture of how corporates these days work is the constant refrain in their job

advertisements: ''An equal opportunity employer''. Equal opportunity for men as well as

women. But the realization of the opportunities by the latter is still more of a distant

dream. One hindering fact is that in all societies, in varying degrees though, men have

had lead over women in entering a profession-and IT industry is no exception. But the

industry itself is exceptional, given that while still young, it grows exponentially-and

welcomes people to fuel that growth irrespective of what sex they belong to. Innovation,

belief, and persistence are the key words that spell success. Indian IT, according to NCST

Director Dr Ramani, employs 19 percent women as against the national average of 12. By the

year 2000, this is further expected to grow 30 percent.

Testifying this changing trend is Lynette

Saldanha, President, Datacraft RPG, a leading WAN integrator in the country. Says she,

"Earlier, people used to raise eyebrows if women were working; now they raise

eyebrows if they ain''t." Similar sentiments are expressed by Aptech VP and CIO Renu

Khurana: "The opportunities are phenomenal, especially with the concept of home

office fast catching up." Not only have a number of women chosen IT as their career,

they have also made a success out of it and have seen tremendous growth.

Pace And Challenges



What draws women to the IT industry and, more important, what keeps them hooked onto their
jobs is the fast pace and challenges. "I have always wanted to push my life to the

edge," says Rohini Midha, who started the Indian operations of datawarehousing and

datamining major SAS Institute Inc. as Country Manager about a year ago. A young achiever

with the courage of conviction, Midha was previously in Australia where she served in

various capacities. In a short span of hardly a decade, she has climbed up the corporate

ladder with a pace as vibrant as that of the industry she works in. And it was the same

factor-pace-that made Saldanha switch her first job in the field of development economics.

"The pace was too slow," she recalls of her brief stint with the UN. So when the

International Computers Ltd (ICL, later ICIM and now Fujitsu ICIM) offer came her way in

1969, she grabbed it with excited anticipation. In her subsequent 16 years with the

company she handled diverse job roles: Systems Support Executive, Project Manager,

Regional Systems Manager, Software Export Manager, and Regional Manager (West).

Khurana, too, calls her experience with

Aptech-barely two years-as a "rollercoaster ride." Her responsibilities have

been multifarious and challenging: setting up Astrocity (the edutainment web site),

launching a multimodal program of learning under Aptech Online (which combines the use of

video, Internet, groupware, personal contact sessions, and courseware), evaluating and

researching new technologies and instructional design methods, and formulating and

implementing the Internet/intranet strategy for the organization. Shashi Sahney, who is

Chief Manager of Systems Management Services at Escorts Ltd (where she has been for over

25 years), says of her continued motivation to be in IT, "This field gives you an

opportunity to learn and grow-you have to keep track of the technology and adapt yourself

accordingly, else you would be outdated and your career growth would stop."

Which is true generally for any career-but

holds particularly significant for IT. One has to take on incessant challenges that come

one''s way rather too frequently. But to make it to the higher echelons of decision-making

and managing coterie, the challenges have to be met head-on. What''s more, going beyond the

stereotype work of carrying on with something already existing, new projects have to be

taken and uncharted waters tested. That''s exactly what the successful women in the IT

industry have been doing. And how. When Uma Ganesh, CEO of Zee Education, started out with

an elementary computer course ''A to Z'' on Zee TV way back in January 1995, there was no

precedent of combining the reach of TV with the ease of use of books for teaching

computers. Numerous computer training institutes of all pursuits and persuasions had

started mushrooming-but TV education was confined to the UGC programs of yore and the

like. Today, Ganesh has turned this medium of entertainment into one of the most powerful

vehicles of delivering various computer education to a large and diverse audience-from

schoolkids to fashion designers and housewives to scooter mechanics (Zee Education has

designed a learning package for scooter mechanics in association with Bajaj Auto).

Besides, she has to her credit setting up of probably the only studio in the country

capable of producing and making animation films-Zed Studio & Institute of Creative

Arts (ZICA) at Hyderabad.

Similarly, when Midha began putting

together a sales team of five people as a separate entity of SAS Institute''s Australian

subsidiary, it was a major reorganizational act for the company whose sales operation had

thus far been platform-driven. Sales, she recounts, was not a "good word" for

many years. However, she continued to lead the efforts of inculcating a new philosophy in

the employees-that of thinking like a sales organization. The monthly sales award and

several other incentives that were introduced soon turned the initial resistance into

healthy rivalry, with the results that sales of the company soared to new highs in a

relatively short span of about four years. Aruna Jayanti, Sr VP, Hexaware Infosystems, a

part of Aptech Group, recalls a rather off-beat multimedia project that she handled for

Aptech involving three countries-India, the UK, and South Africa. The company provided

consultancy for the project which was commissioned by the British Government. It was to

develop simulators for power plant operations at some site in South Africa. This was to

help people working at the plant to "see what goes on inside the complex, huge

equipment." Says she, "The challenge of multimedia is to make things from dry to

interesting."

Another challenging role is remembered by

Khurana. That was prior to joining Aptech. As a Lead Analyst at Airline Financial Support

Services, a subsidiary of Swissair, she was heading the EDP department. "Everything

was moved to India," she says, referring to the revenue accounting function of

Swissair and allied airlines which was entirely handled from the country. She played a key

role in setting up the hardware and software teams, evaluating and designing the

implementation strategy, and developing the systems. It was a mission-critical job and

everything was done from scratch. And it was all achieved with absolute reliability.

Attitudinal Shift



"IT industry, for one, does not differentiate between men and women," says
Jayanti. "The industry respects people''s ability to develop and deliver

projects." Fortunately, in a society still dominated and defined by males, that is

the viewpoint which prevails among most women in the IT industry. Commenting on acceptance

as a female boss or colleague, Padma Chandrasekaran, VP (Internet and Services), Satyam

Infoway Pvt. Ltd, says, "People will respect you and take you at face value for your

domain knowledge, irrespective of whether you are a man or a woman. By and large that is

the case." Yet, the `Indian male ego'' or male ego in its pristine form, if you

please!-does come in the way sometimes. "The first two years were difficult,"

says Saldanha, recalling her job as a sales head. "Initially, my boss was of the

thinking that a woman shouldn''t do the job." There were also some attitudinal

hiccups from some male colleagues. But, thankfully, these problems died away as she proved

her worth. Midha, however, too admits that even though her own experience as a working

woman was without any problem, it could be "more of an exception rather than the

norm." The good news is that as more and more women make it to the top brass there

will be an attitudinal shift which will iron out the wrinkles of gender bias exists.

Homing In On Career



A persistent, and somewhat nagging issue with any working woman is that of performing the
twin duties of a demanding career and an equally demanding family life. Many a woman has

had to sacrifice her career while it was on the success trail; and a great many didn''t

embark on one so they could be housewives. On the other hand, there are some few who

prefer to stay single in order to pursue their careers without any strings attached. But

the issue of family support is for real.

"The stress is not so much in the job

as it is involved for a woman in balancing between home and work," says

Chandrasekaran. And that calls for tremendous support from the husband and other members

of the family. According to Saldanha, unless you have excellent support you cannot have a

successful career. "This is true for men as well, but it is more true for

women," she avers. Midha too owes much of her success to her "extremely

supportive" husband and her mother, who took care of her child while she had to

travel a lot during her job in Australia. Says Lakshmi Kanchan, Program Manger, Corporate

Communications, HP, "Sometimes situations do arise when you have to make a choice and

no two guesses on what gets priority."

While Padma Ravichander, GM, ISO, HP, says

that she has accepted that there is no balance between work and family. Khurana cites

Switzerland as a case in point. In case both husband and wife are working, they take

leaves alternately during the week to attend to children and home. But that is too good

for India! Luckily, she has a very supportive husband and understanding daughter. And so

is the case with most other `successful'' women-or so it seems, especially in Indian IT.

Another Woman Another Age



All these things bode very well for a country which saw women''s liberation when it was
passe in most Western countries and which is accustomed to such cliches as, ''Behind every

successful man, there''s a woman''. Now the ''veiled success'' is fast-becoming an upfront

reality, more so in Indian IT. The good news is that it is not only the handful of women

profiled here that have made IT a successful career. The number is large, and growing

fast-probably faster than Moore''s law. The country is witnessing several niche computer

institutes opening up, such as Aptech''s Zed Points, NIIT''s Leda, or, for that matter,

First Computer''s exclusive centers for women, First Lady. These are but only one means of

proliferation of women''s career in the dynamic and expanding technology field. With ISP

pitch getting feverish-at the most by the turn of the century-the Net would have more

women logging onto satisfying, successful, and ''viable'' careers. When that happens, it

will be an eventful chapter for Indian women in New Age.

SANJAY GUPTA