Women in tech S
ince joining Gigamon, Larissa Crandall has played a key role in doubling Gigamon’s channel team. In her first year, Gigamon’s
channel business grew more than 35 percent, resulting in an increase in revenue, channel- initiated business, and ecosystem alignment. Crandall also helped launch the creation of the Gigamon Playbook, built and executed creative demand generation, training and enablement programs. Tis is what Larissa Crandall had to say about
why more women should be encouraged to pursue a career in the tech industry.
Why is it important to recognise the success of women in business? Recognising women’s successes is crucial for improving gender equality and levelling out the disparity between men and women in senior positions and in the technology industry more specifically. In my experience, I’ve seen that women are less likely to push
themselves into higher executive level positions because they think they need to meet every requirement of the role. In fact, it’s been reported that women usually apply for jobs when they meet 100% of the criteria, compared to around 60% for men. Hopefully, recognition of more women in business and tech can change this trend – as more diversity in decision-making roles makes for a stronger, more successful business.
Do you think there are currently enough women being recruited into senior positions of management in the tech channel? What can be done to encourage more women into these roles? Tere aren’t as many women recruited into senior management positions across the industry, and as of the beginning of this year, only 26% of those in the total technology workforce are women. But this is beginning to shiſt. For me, it’s important to focus on advocating women for higher-
level positions because of their experience, not just because they fit in a certain diversity and inclusion bucket. To encourage more women into these roles, offering mentorship in the earlier stages of their careers is key. I sought out mentorship when I first leſt college and asked to be mentored by both men and women. Tis helped to break down barriers, allowed me to gain a huge amount of experience and, from here, I could grow into senior management
positions, like my role as Vice President of Worldwide Channel & Alliances at Gigamon. Ultimately, the involvement of men and women
in the diversity process is vital. At Gigamon, our GigaWomen program is focused on the empowerment of women and welcomes all genders, meaning everyone is part of the change! It’s also important to ensure that each of these people has a voice at the table and feels part of a collaborative environment. Te Gigamon team continues to break down the silos between leadership and their teams to avoid a they/them dynamic.
If there was a piece of leadership advice you’d offer, what would it be?
You have to feel comfortable feeling uncomfortable – this is what I say to my team. We’re in high tech, so every day is different and you can’t grow if you’re doing the same thing – ‘feeling comfortable’ – all the time. You must adapt and embrace change. Take the pandemic, for instance. It pushed us out of our comfort zone, but we were all in it together as an organisation. Te leadership style of a business has to mimic this fast-paced change.
Why do you think the channel suffers from a diversity lag? I think there is a lag in diversity because being in sales in the technology world has a perception problem; the industry can seem scary and complex from the outside. However, it’s ultimately about helping customers and partners with challenges and issues, which is exciting. If this can be communicated to a more diverse group of people, it could really help to improve the lag. A career in the channel also isn’t the traditional route for
women – following this path oſten means going against the grain. However, one way of closing the broader diversity lag is by creating more positions around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). For instance, Gigamon has created DEI Specialist roles to keep DEI front of mind and ensure we are recruiting the most diverse and experienced candidates.
Do you think there is still a significant pay gap between what women and men earn within the channel? If so, why is this still the case? While there is a gender pay gap, this issue is also improving. Unfortunately, as women, we’re more likely to accept the offer given to us – around four in five women could be missing out on higher
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