From an analyst to a manager in less than two years

"Focus on what interests you, and do not hesitate to move forward and achieve more meaningful goals."

Latha Srinivas narrates her journey to becoming one of Deriv's finest corporate achievers. As a keen learner of IT infrastructure and computer systems, Latha enjoyed and optimised all the right learning opportunities at the right time. And currently, she is managing a team and looking for competent professionals worldwide.

How would you describe your role to someone who isn't in the tech domain?

Hello everyone. I am working as a Manager - Disaster Recovery at Deriv. My primary functions are to design and test disaster recovery strategies and to ensure the continuity of vital business processes in the event of a disaster. We store vital records as a part of our Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP), and we use the stored data to recover our vital business processes efficiently within the required timeframe.?

Before implementation, the DRP is reviewed and approved by the technical team and the application owner. Every time an application is going to be onboarded to Deriv, a DRP is created for the product.?

I also ensure that the team responds to incidents as they occur, restores the service, and returns to normal operations as soon as possible. As a team, we create detailed incident reports after the postmortem analysis with the relevant technical teams.

As a team, we focus on IT infrastructure, regular backups, and data storage (including employees' data in Apricorn drives) on cloud platforms.

What inspired you to pursue a career in tech?

I was always interested in systems, computers, and IT infrastructure. I graduated as an engineer and joined IBM as an Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Service Co-ordinator. The role gave me several learning opportunities in IT Support and IT Service Management (ITSM) which helped me grow professionally.

Let us know about your Deriv experience.

I started as a Disaster Recovery Analyst and gained great insight into cloud infrastructure and storage performance. In a short span of almost two years, I was promoted to Team Lead and then to the Disaster Recovery team manager role. The team is new and looking to expand in the future. Currently, the team is spread across our Malaysia and UAE offices.

Why do you like working at Deriv?

Deriv has a great learning culture. The business leaders are approachable and practice an open-door concept. I can reach out to them and ask for advice or feedback when needed. It is transparent in its mode of communication and conduct.?

Your work speaks for you and will be recognised if you are good at it. Apart from your role, if you want to learn about another field, you are free to do so. You set your work commitments rather than others doing them for you.

What are your thoughts on women's participation in the tech industry today?

More women are now exploring their aspirations in the STEM field, and increasingly organisations are looking for competent professionals, Deriv being one of them. We have a fair representation of women in senior roles, such as heads of departments and vice presidents.

Do you have any parting advice for women interested in pursuing a career in IT?

Focus on what interests you, and do not hesitate to move forward and achieve more meaningful goals. Stay hungry to learn and develop your skills. If you are interested in Deriv, I can guarantee that gender does not come into the equation.

You can explore our current roles here.