Louise van der Bank wanted to be a nursery school teacher. "I began as a bursary student at Iscor, and this was part of what shaped me into what I am today," she says. In working back the bursary, she realised she wanted to stay in the fields of education and training. "For me, it's all about people development," she adds.
After working back her bursary at Iscor, she really started to become interested in what she was doing. "I passed the programming phase, which was painful, but then I moved into more of a management and business role. I realised this was a career I would love. I climbed the ranks at Iscor, and was one of the few women to join a management team. It was interesting, but it was never challenged, I never experienced any form of prejudice, people believing women shouldn't be there."
During her time at Iscor, she enjoyed many opportunities, but when the organisation was bought by Arcelor Mittal, she started to question how to turn IT into an opportunity to add value for business within a cost constraint environment. "Ensuring that the IT value wasn't lost had to be a conscious effort."
A big change in her career and momentum happened when she joined Standard Bank for two years. She was responsible for implementing SAP as an enabler to drive a big change in the bank. She later spent several years at the Post Office. She says perhaps the most important thing she realised during this time was that IT needs to drive results every day.
When she was approached by AfriSam, she had to decide whether to continue her growth as a CIO or look at other management opportunities. "I realised my passion was for IT and its value to the business. I realised I could contribute massively to any organisation as a CIO. I enjoy working with the businesses, moving it forward from a transformation point of view, making sure IT changes the business."
This article was first published in ITWeb Brainstorm magazine.
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