Loading ...By John Mark V. Tuazon
He may not be fortunate enough to have graduated with a university degree in IT, but for Glenn Ganuelas, nothing too constricting as a formal IT education could stop him from pursuing a bountiful and fulfilling career in the field of Information Technology. Having graduated with a Hotel & Restaurant Administration degree from the University of the Philippines, a professional IT career seemed like a far cry from what he was trained to do in college.
“But I got hooked into the world of PCs and Data communications because of my brother back when 128kb and 300 bps modems were still high tech. I used to log on regularly to the online BBS (bulletin board services) and just search for free downloads. This developed a passion in me for everything computerrelated,” Ganuelas shares. Because he was able to experience the joy of IT, Ganuelas says he leveraged this enthusiasm for a possible career in the field of technology. “I translated [my passion] into a career in IT because I am doing something I don’t consider to be work, but merely pursuing a hobby that pays,” he relates. But before setting off on his quest, Ganuelas trained with IBM on scholarship in 1986 to get a formal feel of the world he’s slowly trying to conquer. Slowly, he climbed up the corporate ladder at San Miguel Corporation (SMC), starting off as an Operations analyst in 1987 to being the Network Manager of its Corporate Telecommunications division until 1998. After his decade-long stint at SMC, he jumped aboard the ship of Sea-Land Asia Administrative Services as Manager of Technology Services in Asia, where he says he “learned to deal with diverse personalities and cultures, having 12 countries in Asia under [his] responsibility.” His out-of-the-box and no-boundaries philosophy rubbed off on all his colleagues, especially when they were trying to pursue new projects.
“Challenges in IT in the many organizations I was privileged to be a part of have always provided opportunities to execute out-of-the-box solutions that can be used as examples for new teams I work with,” he narrates. “The reactions are, more often than not, ‘That’s simple enough!
Why didn’t I think of that?’” This impassioned enthusiasm endeared Ganuelas especially to his mentors, who commended him for his “attitude in accepting new challenges with enthusiasm, the ability to give bad news first, and the willingness to admit that I need help,” he points out. This further propelled him to other IT companies where he landed several top posts, most prominent of which is his stint in the IT division of BPO firm Accenture, where he set up the program for the first Accenture call center in the Philippines. Yet even with all these milestones, Ganuelas found his most fulfilling career venture outside of the IT world.
“I believe the one position that shaped my IT career was a non-IT position I held as a shift manager in a Jollibee store in 1986. The position I held taught me the basics of customer focus, service above self, and the sense of urgency I continue to carry with me as my career in IT developed,” he gladly shares. As if by some twist of fate, Ganuelas eventually found himself back to his roots, as he now serves as the head of infrastructure of the corporate information management section of Jollibee Food Corporation.
As a successful IT professional and a fulfilled individual, Ganuelas sees the value of looking outside the box and breaking boundaries to fulfill one’s dreams, even as he looks ahead and gaze at the future before him. “I’ve long wanted to be an entrepreneur, and channel some of the profit from the business to bring computers and the Internet to every barangay in the Philippines.”
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