In celebration of International Women’s Day 2024, we portray four women from NTT DATA Business Solutions Nordics – from Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. We asked them about their experience of being women in the IT world. About what motivates them and what challenges them. And what led them to where they are now.
In this portrait, we meet Joana Manova, Senior Professional in Digital Supply Chain in NTT DATA Business Solutions in Denmark.
..before joining NTT DATA Business Solutions. This was in the beginning of COVID. Nobody was hiring. I’ve always had a lot of friends that work in pharma companies. And for them, it’s so vital that they have an ERP infrastructure that supports the good manufacturing practices and allows for full transparency, tracking and documentation of processes to meet regulatory and quality requirements. This was the link. I spent my time thinking, how can I pick up these ERP systems? I tried this online course from SAP and started their supply chain management education in the SAP Learning Hub for consultants. Alone at home. I quite liked it. Suddenly, I got a job-offer to work at AJ Vaccines as a purchaser. My chance to work for a pharma company with SAP was made possible.
..and when I saw what NTT DATA Business Solutions was doing, I immediately knew. I saw warehousing, and I said to myself, this is something for me. I had my first interview with Mads Damgaard. And I just knew, this is the company, this is my team, this is my boss. I could be myself and I could be open about what I want. I feel very lucky that this is the culture we have in our team, that I’m supported by my manager and that I’m given opportunities to develop and grow all the time. Sometimes I’m like a walking commercial for the department, but from day one I have never been disappointed.
..and I’m looking forward to seeing more women in managerial and director roles. I can see that a lot of effort is now put into it and that is admirable and the way to go. It’s nice how many female colleagues are being welcomed in the company and industry. But I would like to see more occupy the leadership roles. I think that it’s very important, because right now it’s difficult to imagine what your future and career options could be like. There’re just not that many female managers and leaders to relate to. So, yes, having more female managers and directors will inevitably bring more women to the IT sector. Because they will see that it is possible to become one.
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..that the industry is desperately lacking. And I think that women make brilliant consultants with phenomenal project management and communication skills. The hardcore technical skills, they can always be learned. I think that the IT world needs more women.
..is something I find really interesting, especially when we work very closely with the client and when you get to know these people. The connection between a consultant and client is probably what would determine the final evaluation of a project, whether this project was a success or not. I’ve seen projects that are not easy, but the client and the consultants are left with such good feelings after the implementation. They have built a good relationship, have an open communication and are confident in each other’s skills. This opens the door to handle errors, changes and last-minute challenges better. The result is that we end up with an even better solution than we originally thought possible because people are really leaning into it and supporting the implementation. It’s a lot about trust.
..has never been a problem from a client perspective. I maybe had some concerns in the beginning but they quickly disappeared. When you go in a warehouse, typically 99% of the people are men. But it’s some of the kindest, most genuine people that you would meet. And they have always met me with very open mindset, and everybody has been very welcoming. And I think that, as long as I respected their work, their expertise and contribution to their company, they showed me the same respect.
..I want to be on the floor working with actual physical things. And this is what Extended Warehouse Management represents. You are working with the configurations of a software, but this software has a very physical side. It materializes. When you go into a warehouse, everything you have configured has a material representation – the cranes and conveyors are moving, pallets and goods are being received or sent to customers. For me, the fact that what we do is so tangible, had a very big impact on my choice.
..We have brought order to their warehouse and to the operators’ work life. After we leave, they would know exactly where their products are. They would no longer have to look and search for one hour to find one pallet. Because everything is visible in the system. This leaves a lot of space for optimizing their daily routines in the company and for creativity. It is my hope that when we leave, we have created something better and a better work life for these people.
..and something I am very proud of. It was the perfect project for a newcomer. They had a phenomenal warehouse team in their warehouse and they were going live with a very sophisticated MFS and ATTP integration. Due to Covid delays, they were in a hurry to go live and a decision was made to do so without too much training prior to it. We had three junior consultants and one other consultant going in and supporting on the floor to make daily operations work and at the same time train the warehouse staff. And then we had the senior consultant team to debug in the background and resolve any upcoming issues. The fact that we went there, we managed to carry out this and worked as a team all of us together was the highlight for me. We ended up having quite a few dinners together and spending a lot of time with the client team. They even still text me for Christmas, so I take this as a success.
