Elena M. Ordóñez del Campo

With which digital project do you want to apply in this category?

I am often being asked how it is to work as a leader in the IT sector in Germany and aligning my professional career with having a family. So, I guess, my “digital project” is the “story of my life”.

I studied engineering in Computer Science in my hometown Bilbao (Spain).
At the age of 22, I came to Germany to work for an unknown company called SAP. I was hired by the funders and my personnel number was 561. During my almost 25 years at SAP I was responsible for the SAP Human Capital Management solution that was ranked as market leader in a head-to-head competition with PeopleSoft in 2003. Afterwards, I funded a new organization called Globalization Services. My team was responsible for the implementation of worldwide legal requirements in all SAP solutions and the translation in 37 languages.
In 2012 I joined T-Systems being responsible for its SAP business worldwide.
I am a truly supporter of diversity in all dimensions and consider my two nationalities to be a life motto.
I am a proud mum of a twenty-year young man who has learned my open-mindness and curiosity for other cultures studying economics and Chinese culture.
In 2003, I was recognized as one of the most influencing women in Human Capital Management worldwide.
In 2015, I was a candidate to the “Top 100” most influencing women in Spain.
In 2017, I was recognized as one of the four most influencing students in the 40-years history of my university, and funded with seven brilliant ladies “Next Exit Future”, a company intended to support women willing to fund their own start-up with our personal experience.
So… yes, you can be a female leader in a foreign country; yes, you can be a successful female professional in the IT sector; yes, you can be a proud mum at the same time…
I am a passionate woman who believes everybody can make a difference. If I can do it, everybody can do it. Just, believe in yourself.

How does digitization shape your career?

Being an engineer in Computer Science with two European nationalities and having been working in global IT companies for the last 33 years, I truly believe in the innovation potential that leveraging new technologies can bring in the way we do business, the way we globally interact with each other and how we can make a difference for a better planet earth and a value-oriented humankind.

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the status quo and made some negative aspects of globalization very tangible: companies worldwide have dealt with major disruptions in supply chain management, countries and economies worldwide have shown their dependency on critical medical equipment being produced in offshore locations, and, we had to find new hybrid ways of working.

At the same time, joining forces and leveraging new technologies, companies like SAP and Deutsche Telekom were able to develop the Corona-Warn-App or the Digital Certificate of Vaccination to protect human beings and save lives in Europe. Software has helped to identify critical steps in Supply Chain Management defining optimized processes and implementing mitigation strategies. Collaboration tools have helped us to eliminate frontiers in the way we work together, it doesn’t matter where.

I am a truly believer that a value-oriented use of new technologies like AI, IoT, etc. can have a positive impact not only on companies worldwide but also on the quality of our private life and humankind. It is up to us how we use them in a sustainable and responsible way.

Who am I? #WomanInTech, #CitizenOfTheWorld

What makes you a digital female leader?

In my current responsibility I lead a team of around 4.000 professionals worldwide that offer SAP End-To-End Services to our customers, from Hosting Services to Digitalization. Our customers are some of the biggest companies worldwide in their industry.

Digital Innovation and Transformation are two of our strategic portfolio areas that enable our customers to make use of new technologies to optimize their business processes or even implement new business models based on insights provided by technology. Our goal is to be a trusted advisor for innovation.

In my leadership role, it is my responsibility to foster innovation in our services as well as continuously develop the talent and skills in our team being new technologies and new agile ways of working.
My personal motto is “long life learning”. Particularly in our IT industry, there is always an opportunity to learn something new and grow as an individual, independently of your age or position.

At the same time and being an engineer in Computer Science with 33 years’ experience in the IT industry, I am a truly supporter of young women and girls interested in the STEM world. “Being different” is not always easy but at the same time an exciting and enriching experience. Sharing my personal experience as #WomanInTech, #Leader and most important #ProudestMum, I try to motivate young girls, women, and their families to dare new ways.
It is our responsibility to challenge the status quo so that “women in tech”, hopefully soon, become the “new normal”. We all can make a difference.

What does leadership mean to you?

Leadership is to inspire and motivate a team to a common vision and goal while developing and coaching the team members showing passion, integrity, and the right values.