I have been working for Veritas for more than 14 years.
Describe your current role and responsibility/responsibilities at Veritas.
Currently, I am managing most of the development team in Backup Exec, and playing a role as Development lead for Backup Exec releases., I am responsible for ensuring release management lifecycle, focusing on coordinating various aspects of the product into one integrated solution. I ensure that resources, timelines, and overall development and quality process are considered and accounted for from the development side.
What inspired you to pursue a career in technology?
As a child, I was good at my studies, and during the state board secondary school examination, I secured a position in the merit list of the top one hundred students, which led to wider education choices for me. For a small city girl, that was an important thing.
While growing up, my favorite subjects were biology, mathematics, and physics so my career choice was no surprise for me. As my first preferred career option, I wanted to become a doctor. However, when I could not secure a seat in the medical college, I chose my second favorite field, computer science engineering. Computer networks and operating systems have remained my favorite subjects since then. During my engineering course, I enjoyed working on Windows Server Active Directory seminars and projects related to this subject.
Throughout my career, I have remained associated with networking and operation systems, where I’ve held various roles as a Network Administrator, Software Quality Assurance Engineer, Quality Assurance Manager, and Development Manager. In addition, I lead Release Development for Backup Exec here at Veritas.
What keeps you at Veritas? What is your favorite aspect of the company?
What keeps me at Veritas is the work culture and opportunities. I think that the Backup Exec and NSP Business Units (Bus) have the finest work culture. The team's DNA includes a belief in trust and integrity. We take our responsibility seriously, strive to improve, and have a desire to learn so we can bring out the best on this team. Veritas has provided me with numerous growth and learning opportunities on the technical and soft job skills front. When I joined as a Software Quality Assurance Engineer, I was later promoted organically to Quality Assurance Manager. Subsequently I assumed the post of QA Release Lead and am now both a Development Manager and a Development Release Lead.
Also, Veritas has been a leader in data protection and storage technologies for many decades and there is continued investment in new technologies. With the combination of innovative technology and a great position in the market, Veritas is the best place to work with work-life balance and approachable management as an added advantage.
Your role transforms the future of solutions and products at Veritas. Can you tell us about a project that you’ve worked on that you found most rewarding?
I’ve worked on a variety of releases of Backup Exec and I certainly learned something from each one. If I were to pick the best one, however, it would be the Backup Exec 22 where we supported M365 support for Exchange and One Drive. After a long time, we were delivering workload of such a large size. We faced uncertainty as a few unknowns surfaced at the later stage of the release. That’s when I had to step in as the Development Release Lead. Sine the project was at a critical stage, I collaborated with all stakeholders and remained on top of the issues. Closely tracking the risk and collaborating continuously with stakeholders to assess the progress and resolution proved to be helpful for a timely and quality release. I could see that I had made a real impact with my work. Backup Exec 22 became generally available in June 2022 and being a part of such a big project is both humbling and rewarding.
What are your thoughts and/or feelings about being a woman in the tech industry?
There are so many opportunities for women in technology. I believe that women today are setting the tone in the tech industry, and companies are learning to understand our value within this workspace. I see that there are endless possibilities to explore. As a company, and a woman in the tech industry, we all need to continue to inspire more young women to study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and pursue opportunities in these sectors. This will help both the industry at large and bring our young women to the forefront of high-tech.
What advice would you give to women who want to break into tech/leadership roles?
Follow your passion and play on your strength. I would also like to quote Sheryl Sandberg: “Sit at the table; let your voice be heard.” If you are afraid to speak up, feel the fear—and speak up anyway. You were hired for a reason, and the world needs your ideas.
