Arockiam Ponnusamy
Sr. Manager - Network Security
SIFY TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED
Handling Grievances
I prefer to deal with individuals short-term and long-term goals during periodic 1 on 1 meetings; which will help them to focus on their career plan than the current issues if any they are encountering
Team Management
My focus on team members are right-attitude to deliver, take ownership and complete projects within time. I always ensure the teams interact with customers on right attitude. I honestly believe on Mahatma Gandhi's quote on Business - “A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.”
Important career decisions
Started my journey on Networking domain; which helped me to stay focus on Network Infrastructure engineering. Having depth knowledge on Networking domain, helped me to shift gear confidently on Infrastructure Security engineering. The recent developments on converged networks, converged computing etc. are really helping me to stay focus on these two domains Network & Security. I treat these two are like my professional two eyes.
Influenced by
Some of the leaders whom I came across personally in this IT industry helped me to mold my thoughts. One who influenced me much is - Steve Jobs. Simplicity he adopted in the design, presentations, speech etc etc. really helping me
Leadership qualities
Of course it is not that easy in the knowledge industry. Every one is special with their skill set. I always tend to play dual role like - Leadership and Mentorship which helps many times to achieve organizations goal in a better way.
Tech Management matters more on
1. keeping the morale at high within a team
2. assign opportunities to the team members and guide them to achieve goals
3. of course update self-knowledge on the tasks which he/she handles in the current position; which will help on committing timelines, requirement handling and staffing recruitment etc.
Current Job description
We are one of the leading ICT player in India. I handle Security Engineering and Operations. Also many times plays Individual contributor role as well.
From the operations perspective the team handles
1.interaction with CERT, CB/IB, DOT for the regulatory compliance
2.Handles ISP's backbone security operations
From the Engineering perspective
1.contribute to security requirement for internal
2.cloud security
3.customer engagement handling on security projects
My views on India Technical development
All these technical talents are used by many organizations for their excellence in operations. It z all boiled down to the lifestyle, environment and social setup, it is applicable to any industry for that matter in India. I believe the starting point should be at Education layer - that is colleges should be research & development centers too.
Family background
I am married to Indirani, who is working as a Government Teacher in Chennai; Fortunate enough to have Teacher at home, which helps my both sons to concentrate on their education.
Ensuring Growth
I always visualize IT leader as - Leading Surgeon in the Operations Theater.
1.Constantly updating knowledge on Technical and other soft-skills is essential
2. Seeking guidance from my mentors who is outside of this organization and adopt their recommendations
Managing personal and professional life
I believe in Planning. Tony Buzan's Mind mapping helps me a lot before stepping into a project - whether it is personal or professional. Once I get into the task, I never ever want to turn-back - until achieve the destination.