Helen Masters, vice president of sales, at Infor Asean shares her experience with Izwan Ismail
THE IT world may be dominated by men but women are fast making their mark too.
Helen Masters, vice president for sales at Infor (Asean), a software company that specialises in enterprise software, is proof that women have a fair chance of climbing the corporate ladder.
Describing her career in IT as both challenging and exciting, she says women just need to know how to play their role in this male-dominated line.
“There are more men than women in IT so you need to be more assertive than your male counterparts to be heard,” she says.
The Australian, who now resides in Singapore to oversee Infor’s business in the region, says women also need to be more confident in their abilities.
EARLY DAYS
Masters is a veteran in the IT world with more that 20 years in various organisations.
She initially pursued a degree in accounting but found it very boring and switched to a career in IT which is more exciting and lucrative.
“I started as a programmer but found that my personality is more suited to dealing with customers. So I moved to sales and worked in various positions,” says Masters, who is a graduate of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia and certified in computer programming.
Prior to Infor, she worked at Computer Associates, Business Objects, and she was vice president, commercial and emerging markets, at Sap and head of emerging and transformational alliances group at Cisco Systems where she was responsible for the launch of data business solutions.
BE ORGANISED
Being in charge of Asean and 27 managers as well as doing sales for the company sounds like a daunting task. But despite her busy schedule and meetings, this mother of two is an organised person.
“You just have to be organised or things will go haywire,” says Masters. Although her time is mostly spent meeting customers, she always makes sure that she is available for her team.
“I do a forecast call every week with the managers and with my boss too,” she says.
KEEPING UP WITH TECH
As vice president for sales in a hi-tech enterprise, she is aware of the need to keep up with the fast-evolving technology and customer needs.
So how does one cope with the latest updates in the company’s product range and communicate them to potential and existing customers?
“Infor has 10 solutions from customer relationship management to supply chain management that covers cross industries. Knowing each one of the product and having the ability to sell them is a huge task. The will to learn new things is helpful, and having good info dissemination in the organisation is vital too,” says Masters.
“Infor keeps employees abreast with its products via email and social networking platforms. We also have calls worldwide that we’re invited to that gives us up-to-date information on what’s going on regarding our products. Those calls are recorded so that employees can listen to them at leisure.”
She reads the local newspapers to get insight on the situation or industry of wherever she is in at any moment.
“I’ll talk to as many customers as possible and ask them what’s important to them,” she explains.
Infor also has a Women’s Infor Network that helps develop potential female employees to go up the ladder. Our aim is to build a community within Infor to help female employees understand their position and how they can help each other.
“We have women leading at various levels in the company in the region. Today, three out of four people on my sales team are women. We have a strong female contigent at Infor,” says Masters.
BALANCED LIFE
Despite her busy schedule, Masters tries to balance her work and life.
“It’s important to balance your lifestyle and make sure you have time for leisurely pursuits,” she says.
She is thankful to the communications technology which enables her to keep in touch with her family.
Her husband is also in the IT line and she has a 20-year-old son who lives in Singapore. Her daughter, 25, is in Sydney, Australia.
“We communicate constantly via text, email, social media and Skype,” she says.
Being a mother and wife, she is also responsible for ensuring that the house is well stocked, thanks to the availability of online shopping.
“I’m here in KL and my husband is in Singapore. We do grocery shopping over the Internet and we just need to ensure there’s someone at home to take delivery,” says Masters.
ADVICE FOR WOMEN
Opportunities abound in the IT world. “You just need to understand your goals and make sure you can achieve those goals,” she says.
She advises women who aspire for a career in IT to find a mentor, preferably outside the organisation.
“These people can give you a better perspective. Sometimes, people within the organisation are too caught-up with office politics,” she says.
When she was working with Computer Associates, Masters says she had a head executive who mentored her. “In Singapore, I helped a colleague with some difficult decisions.”
