A telecommunications engineer by qualification, Habib’s decision to pursue a career in the IT market was driven by circumstances. “After graduation I wanted to be a fibre optic sub-sea cable engineer but found it virtually impossible to find a job as a woman working offshore. I then decided to apply my skills and qualification for a career in the IT market and specifically in marketing as I thought that was more practical for a woman,” she says.
Habib enjoys the interpersonal element of the channel believing every individual one meets adds value in some way or another. “I think that this approach definitely enhances both my performance and managerial abilities, as I seek to understand before being understood and empower my team and the channel accordingly. It is key to understanding the markets’ needs and deliver on it. It also backs the ability to effectively communicate the markets’ requirements to the corporation and ensure that there is alignment between corporate drivers and the market demands,” she explains.
Habib counts becoming a regional marketing manager of the MENA region for Sun Microsystems and working with the channel and running the first set of marketing academies for all partners across the region, both in Sun and now for Dell, in her list of professional highlights. “I’ve had the privilege of working for several major vendors including IBM, Sun, Oracle and now Dell. Every one of them had its highlights and was part of my learning curve and career growth,” Habib adds.
With Steve Jobs and Scott Mc Nealy as her idols, Habib says that one must set realistic and achievable objectives in order to measure their personal or professional success.
She adds, “If you look at how technology is evolving and how much we have become dependent on IT in our everyday lives, I think the sky is the limit. That in itself is enough motivation for me to keep going and contributing to this wonderful, evolving market.” Habib says that if not within marketing for the IT channel, she would stick to safe grounds and pursue a career in IT to leverage her skills and qualifications.
