BhuvaneswariSubramani, Director, Engineering Operations, Infor has over two decades of IT experience with a specialized in Engineering Operations developing and executing IT strategies in alignment with corporate objectives. Her journey at Inforbegan a decade ago as a Dev Ops Manager to lead Nexus (a company later acquired by Infor) for strategizing, architecting, automating, and integrating Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery at all levels, including Dev, Test, Non-Production and Production environments.
Bhuvaneswaribelieves her curiosity to be on a quest to stay aligned with industry trends and disruptive technology has propelled her throughout her career. Shehas thus pursued her dreams by following what her heart desires.
In a conversation with the Women Entrepreneur India magazine Bhuvaneswari speaks to us about her journey in the technology industry and much more.
Take us through the formative years of your life. What were some early influences that contributed to shaping the trajectory of your life?
I grew up seeing women in only two professions: teachers and doctors. I have always had a high regard for doctors and great admiration for teachers. My mother, a multi-taskerherself was responsible for sowing that seed in me and emphasized the importance of education and financial independence for women.
After higher secondary, I joined BA in English Literature. However, in my heart, I wanted to pursue a professional course and I aspired to make a career out of it. I strongly believe in Paulo Coelho’s quote “And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” I became an accidental engineer moving from Bachelors in English Literature to Engineering. Despite having a gap year, I earnedhonors and also accomplished various university positions. Since then, I've been on a learning binge. Yes, change is unavoidable, but how soon you adapt is crucial.
What led you towards the field of technology? Tell us about your growth in the IT industry.
As a studious student, I had great interest in programming and technology right from my college days. That grew manifold over years, I never hesitated in signing-up for challenging projects or learning new technologies.
A career in technology is a momentum gained during my progression in the IT field by watching my superiors who are still hands-on at SVP & CTO level in my present and previous organizations.
Infor strongly encourages us to be hands-on and provides various platforms to utilize our true potential. Together we strongly believe in building a team of technophiles but not people’s managers.
With my passion for training and creative writing, I have been an active speaker at AWS community events, & industry conferences all around the world. I have delivered guest lectures on Cloud Computing, DevOps for staff and students at engineering institutions across India. I also connect with arts and science students and talk about personal branding and motivation.
Further my association with AWS User Group Bengaluru has led the way to various international recognitions from AWS: I was one of AWS’s Invent User Group leader diversity scholarship recipients across the globe for 2018,the first Indian woman to receive AWS Community Hero in 2019 & first woman across the world to receive AWS DevTools Hero in 2020 from AWS. AWS featured me on an inspirational video (video, blog) to motivate more women to embrace technology as a career and that quickly went on to receive 2.7 million views.
I received Alumnae Excellence Award from my Alma Mater on 2019 Women's Day, #WomenOfInfor in 2019 and Spotlight on Infor Women on 2020 women's day from my employer, Infor. I was honoured as Incredible Women In Tech by Revolent Group on women's day 2020. I am extremely proud to be the Digital Revolution Awards 2022 finalist under two categories - Tech Star of the Year and Outstanding Contribution to the AWS Ecosystem.
Curiosity to be on a quest to stay aligned with industry trends and disruptive technology has kept me on my toes throughout my career and I am able to pursue my dreams by following what my heart desires.
How has almost a decade at Infor shaped you and supported you as a woman leader in tech?
I started my journey a decade ago at Infor as a Dev Ops Manager to lead Nexus (a company later acquired by Infor) for strategizing, architecting, automating, and integrating Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery at all levels, including Dev, Test, Non-Production and Production environments.
Over the years, I've steadily progressed as a multi-disciplinary team leader and delivered over 60 major releases for the Infor Nexus product suite that involved feature automations and integrations seamlessly propagated to production. Now, in the role as a Director, Software Development, I’m responsible for DevOps, Performance Testing, Cloud Development, and Application Lifecycle Management software administration. To share the knowledge, I deliver training on DevOps, Cloud Computing, and Performance Testing at Infor.
My thirst for innovation and keen interest in latest trends and technologies, stood strong for me to implement modernization strategy in achieving corporate objectives. Thanks to my supervisor Vynessa Alexander, Senior Vice President, Thomas Sorgie, Senior Vice President and other leaders, for continuously inspiring me and mentoring. They provided me an environment which empowered me to accomplish my full potential at work, enhance work and life balance, and deliver technical sessions at international conferences.
Besides key deliverables, I am passionate about my involvement in various CSR programs, both tech-based and non-tech-based.
I am a proud #WomenOfInfor and active member of Women's Infor Network (WIN) aligned with the mission to help members on their self-actualization journey, to realize their potential, and create their greatest value.
Did gender ever play a role in your professional growth in the IT industry? In your opinion what steps can be taken to increase the number of women in STEM roles?
In my case gender parity neither helped nor hindered my professional development. As a fresh engineering graduate, my credentials and communication skills, aptitude to learn & contribute helped me land a great job in the IT Industry. Later on, my hard work, tenacity, work ethics, constant technological knowledge, and "Can do" attitude with no fear of failure helped me to make consistent development in my career.
About two decades ago, there weren’t many women in the tech industry. In my previous roles, I was the only woman in the team and rarely saw any other women in the technical field. But I see a great transformation now. Today women make up 38 percent of the tech workforce at junior level and tech giants are making steady progress in terms of gender diversity.
I would like to appeal to all the women out there in senior roles to support other women so that we can do wonders together. And this would create a strong base for a majority of the junior women in the tech workforce to grow brighter and better.
As a business leader what is your mantra or philosophy for success?
Be focused to align the individual goal with organization goal;
Stay humble to take success and failure alike;
Spread a smile to share the joy of learning.
All through the process, “Never give-up your individuality because that’s your identity”.
What would your advice be to young female professionals starting out in their professional journeys? What are some dos and don’ts for creating a lucrative & lasting career in the Indian IT industry?
Now we live in an era where diversity and inclusion are felt more than ever. So do not wait for reservations or fight for equality but always keep the spirits high with loads of positivity and I can do it attitude.
Dos
- Be a lifelong learner
- Stayconnected with your tech space
- Seek feedback from mentors & seniors
- Attend / speak at industry conferences
- Build your brand
- ASK!! For Help, Pay Hike or Promotion.
Don’ts
- Avoid frequent job switches because you would have neither learnt nor contributed to the organization
- You are unique, Stop comparing!
- No shortcut to success, do not look for one
