‘No one ever became a success without taking chances…’ We have heard this a lot but you start believing it all the more when you see the real-life people setting such examples. Professionally we see female dominance in verticals such as HR, Administration, Communications and Designing. The world of IT is believed to have male dominance. But, Suzanne Al – Najjar who is leading the Channel business for A10 Networks, has set new norms. In a candid chit chat with the Associate Editor, Channel360MEA, Suzanne shared her experience while carving a niche for herself in the industry.
Please share your professional journey post college?
I started working in the IT field in 2014 with a distributor for network and network security products. I then joined a system integrator as a territory sales manager, tasked with the role of expanding their market coverage. Following that, I joined Micro Focus to support the company in growing its business in Saudi Arabia. I then landed a Channel Account Manager role at A10 Networks in March of 2020. And currently I handle channel for the whole Middle East region.
Tell us about yourself and your current job role
I have always been very passionate about the technology industry. My current role leading the regional channel business for A10 Networks in the Middle East involves developing and implementing a channel strategy and strengthening relationships with our partners. As a company, we focus a lot on education and training and I oversee our partner enablement program. What I love most about my job is networking and face-to-face interactions with partners.
Do you see less women working in the IT or Telecom industry? Give reasons for both yes or no.
The age-old mindset of technology being a male dominated field is breaking down. Women today in most developed countries across the globe are given equal opportunities when it comes to education and careers. As far as I am concerned I have been very lucky to have a supportive family that allowed me to dream and pursue my passion. As this plays a critical role. Next, we as women have to change our mindsets and believe that we can be dominant in any field that we choose, including IT and telecom, if only we are well educated, innovative in our outlook and persistent in our desire there is no stopping from reaching the top!
Share an incident where just because of your gender your capabilities were doubted.
I can’t think of a specific situation, but I definitely feel that men seem to have a preconceived notion that women are less capable, especially when it comes to technical jobs/ tasks. But I am a positive and competitive person and the thought of overcoming a difficult task greatly motivates me. I see challenges as a stepping stone in my journey to becoming stronger and more successful.
What are other milestones you have achieved in the journey?
A job position like regional head for the channel would traditionally be a man’s job. Through my strong work ethic and result oriented approach to my job, I have earned the respect of the senior management and my peers at A10 Networks and have been given the fantastic opportunity to lead the regional channel program for the company. In this role, I have built a very successful channel ecosystem and changed the mindset of our partners from an opportunistic outlook to one that is more strategic. Working for a distributor in the early days of my career has given me a deeper understanding and insight into the expectations that partners have from vendors, which helps me to design programs that achieve desired results. I can now proudly say that we are working with the biggest channel partners in Saudi and the Middle East – partners that once only worked with our competition.
Do you think with markets opening up for jobs and with the realisation of the concept of WFH (work from home), chances of jobs for women will improve in 2023?
Absolutely! With the new trend of the hybrid workplace, I see more opportunities because it is now easier for women to juggle work-life and home-life. Employees have reached a stage of maturity when it comes to using productivity tools like Zoom, MS Teams etc.
Earlier you would look at a successful woman who had reached the topmost rung of the corporate ladder and you could say with near certainty that she was either single or was sacrificing her family for the sake of her job. But today a woman doesn’t have to make that choice. She can be a successful homemaker, focusing on her family, kids and herself, while being a high powered corporate executive at the same time. As for me, I’m a workaholic and my aspiration is to prove to young girls and women that with hard work, grit and determination there are no boundaries to what you can achieve in life – even in a ‘man’s world’.
Do you have any advice for Women?
In my mind, there is no gender inequality when it comes to capabilities. Women are competent to do everything that men can do. And so my advice to anyone pursuing a career in technology would be to ‘Believe in yourself (BiY) and work with passion’.
