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Sairam Murali

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Sairam Murali

Network Security Specialist

HCL Technologies, India Business

Brief description about me

I am Sairam Murali, with an engineering background in Information technology. Honestly, I have never thought of becoming an engineer. But then I always do any work with passion, even if it is feverish. I enjoy what I do, may be that has led me to become what I am today - a personality who can create new ideas for the society.
“Research and Development in Engineering” I would say a fits my pie, since its an area where you can learn many things in depth by applying your knowledge and thorough analysis whereby you either develop a new product or patch the flaws in the existing one. I was fortunate enough that I got in to this field, where it tests your knowledge extensively and you really need to do lot of research to gain practical exposure. Then my long term goal is to develop a product which would be very useful for the society and everybody gets benefited from it. I am looking forward to see it materialize.
Apart from all these I guess my hobbies column is left behind, well I like to read books, play Basket Ball (one game which I played with utmost spirit and passion), article writing, solo driving with crisp music. That’s it about me

Most Important Decision

I should say that I accidentally slipped into the field of Network and Information Security. Frankly my profile during college days was that of a Programmer and DB Administrator. But when I took my first leap into IT Industry I got into Network Security.

So here is how it all started, my initial roadmap was to start with End-point security, then get into IPS/IDS and later into Firewall/Correlation etc. Now currently am strengthening myself in Firewall, Correlation, IPS, and VPN. Later I want to work in Information Security particularly in Malware Analysis and Incident Response.

I have always cherished my college days or should I call it the learning days, because when it comes to Security one should know about everything. But learning starts from basics. Whenever there is an issue one should know to traverse to the root of the problem and to address the issue. In that sense the basics learned in college did come in handy.

Degree that matters

I would suggest doing a degree or certification would definitely add value to one’s profile, but real-time experience is the baton holder. It is better to first research about all the latest developments in the relevant field and then to take a call on which course or certification one should pursue. Initially I learnt TCP/IP which served as a strong foundation, later I did my CEH v7 from EC-Council since I worked in End-Point Security. Now I want to do my CCIE Security V4, this new version has everything and covers all technologies. So that I can have end to end feel of this technology.

Prospective towards freshers

Humans have the tendency to get institutionalized to a set of rules and might not think beyond it. By recruiting young talent, the company regenerates the lost creativity and paves way for out of the box ideas and breakthrough innovations. First I should thank my current company for taking the risk on me.

As I said earlier, the company should take the risk since not every work can be done by the experienced personnel. In those cases, the opportunity may be given to a fresher. Thus company’s young pool of talent is groomed to handle the needs of tomorrow. As the saying goes, “Change is the only permanent thing in the world”

My skills

Strongest Skill:
Communication, Analytical thinking.

Attributes:
Perseverance, Self-Confidence.

My role model

I have many role models in my life. First is my mom, two qualities I learnt from her was being compassionate towards others and the other is managing the family members with grace at all times. Next is my dad, I would say that he is a perfectionist in his work because he does it with utmost care and consciousness. Then I would like to mention about my college senior (Mr. R. Harikrishnan) who had been the guiding force during my college days and had made me realize my zeal for Research and Development.

Apart from all these I was thoroughly impressed with the late Mr. Steve Jobs for his dedication towards IT industry and for being a great Entrepreneur. His words still linger in my mind. Two things he said were “Connecting the dots from behind” and the next is “Every morning he wakes up and sees himself in the mirror saying if this is my last day what I will do and starts for his work”. Last but not the least, I would like to mention is Mr. Vineet Nayar (CEO of HCL) a prudent person with wisdom and knowledge and I always admire his Management skills and presence of mind.

Upcoming Trends

Considering my field two big things will impact a great change and they can pose an immense challenge. First would be migrating from IP version 4 to version 6 which would take much time to reticulate to normal working. Next big game changer would be cloud computing and security aspects associated with it.

My goal

Goal:
I would like to strengthen myself in my current field and to do some quantitative research in some products and technology. Also complete my certifications that I have plotted in my roadmap. Later I would like to develop a product which could help the society.
Ambition:
Well from my childhood days one big thing that always strike me is keep up your reputation where ever you are and you will have your respect even in your absence. In that way I have seen big business people who always have their reputation left and still they are remembered even in their absence. From then till now I always wanted to be an Entrepreneur so I could develop and produce results for the welfare of the world, well at this juncture I could remember Mr. Steve Jobs
words, “Connecting the dots from behind”.

Family Background

Sure, my father is retired Superintending Engineer in Corporation of Chennai and my mom is a homemaker and I don’t have any siblings. So that keeps me really bored and being the only one I was given the liberal to work on any things but I was also posed with restrictions that is mainly concerned with studies.

Advice from elders

a.   Enjoyment is not coined alone for spending with friends or family or anything. Every day in your life you can be happy, it’s your mental perspective that is going to change your attitude towards the day. So enjoy doing everything with zeal and zest.
b.   Next thing that I always like to follow is, don’t take success to your head and failures to your heart both will never help you in climbing the next step in the ladder.
c.   Always work with perseverance so you will always find the root of every problem.

Achievements

Well I have not achieved anything in life. I am working towards my goal and ambition. But one achievement in my college days really made me proud and I should thank my team and friends who were helpful in getting it done. I am referring to my final year project which we were told that it cannot be done by you and your team also there was only two month left to finish moreover during that time I was attending campus interview. But despite all these we worked towards our goal and by the final day we made our presentation with the project and every person in my college were proud about my work. My Dean personally requested me to get it applied for patent and now it is in process. This inspires me when ever I am feeling down.

Advice to students

There is no substitute for hard work, so keep trying till the end. To be the best in your career always know the art of failure which will teach you your shortcomings and the art of success which will teach you that you should be humble now for your next success.

My point of view

See many people in India were not recognized and if recognize for their product they migrate to other country. So proper recognition should be endorsed and I feel strongly that we have brilliant resources in India to develop and be on par with other competitors. I also see that much of exposure is not given for R&D and without which we cannot expect a dominating product in the world market.
By increasing the R&D spending, we can strive to achieve what has been not possible in the previous decades. We have proved our zeal in being an efficient service provider, but now is the time we become the clients.