“ In October 2019 , I took on my current role in the Google networking team as the Director of Supply Chain and Commercial Operations . The Google networking supply chain & commercial operations team is structured to effectively manage procurement and supply of networking equipment to sites , overseeing significant investment in assets and services across the business .”
The challenges in this role range from supporting Google Cloud ’ s enterprise customers to ensuring effective procurement and delivery to complex countries .
“ The shift over the past 40 + years to just-intime inventory and global manufacturing has helped to optimise costs ,” says Iyer . “ However , the pandemic added a new set of unforeseen challenges . On the supply side , border closings combined with lockdowns constrained the manufacturing and shipping of key components and goods , significantly increasing lead times . Juggling supply to meet growing demand has therefore posed new challenges .”
Hiring supply chain and project management talent globally in a labour constrained environment has been more of a challenge recently .
“ As a leader , supporting team members to take care of their health and overall wellbeing during the pandemic has been critical , but not always easy to do . The last two years have been a marathon and it isn ’ t over by any stretch of imagination !”
Iyer and her team are working hard to overcome these challenges .
“ We have developed frameworks , processes and metrics to help better understand and quantify these challenges . For example , working with business stakeholders on an emerging market roadmap , developing a materials supply playbook for these markets and investing in planning ahead to support timely deployment in these markets have helped .
datacentremagazine . com 65