Francia Peralta

What brought you to a career in technology at the United Nations?

My career started from teaching computer courses in colleges and universities, followed by designing, coding and implementing applications, up to managing US government regional ICT operations in 5 countries in Central Asia. It was in 2007 when I was selected as Chief FTS in UNOWAS (UNOWA at that time) where my career in UN started. It was my first job in UN and although I feel demoted from managing a regional ICT operations to managing a small ICT unit, I enjoyed and patiently face all challenges that came my way, knowing that this is part of learning how to work in UN. I was fully motivated to be part of an organization which can help the world a better place. In 2009, I had the opportunity to move to UNLB in Brindisi where I managed a world-class Data Center. The success of Data Center section in delivering application platform enables me to be part of a handful of experts who start the GSC Valencia operations. I joined GSC Valencia in 2011. As pioneer of GSC Valencia, I launched the first platform and application at the Data Center in Valencia and enjoyed many successful projects after that, including the infrastructure setup of UMOJA platform, setup of the first in-house cloud environment at GSC, setup of the citrix farm for UMOJA, establishment of Disaster recovery for Valencia and Brindisi including the very first DR exercise and deployment of still existing Data Domain backup infrastructure for 36 field missions sending backup data to GSC, and many more. To boost my career after 7 years in Valencia, one of my mentors suggested to have a lateral move, so I accepted the Information Security post at GSC Brindisi (UNLB) in 2017 where I led the GSC ICT Security team and which gave me opportunities to rollout SCCM in 36 missions, centralized anti-virus system in 33 missions, and Federated Checkpoint firewall. Before the end of 2018, I had the chance to have another lateral move to MINUSCA as Chief of Service Management Unit, and finally in March 2022, I was promoted as Chief of FTS in MONUSCO.

What has been your favorite technology project or initiative at the United Nations and why? What was your contribution?

I believe I had a chance to contribute many successful projects in UN. One of my favorites is the Data Domain implementation to 36 missions, which up to now is still functioning (not a surprise because nothing beats its performance yet!). Before the Domain, we were storing backup data to Terabytes of storage which costs millions. With data domains, which applies de-duplication technology, seamless integration in vmware infrastructure, encryption, and replication, shrinks data up to 99% resulting to less storage space with 30x reduction (meaning millions of savings) and less bandwidth for replication. Though we are now working with cloud most of the time and there's no need to send backup to GSC, Data Domain is still useful at the mission side for local disaster recovery or Sector to HQ DR of video files like UAS and CCTV images. If given a chance to provide another IT project, I would say, Teams Voice is my favorite. The rollout of Teams Voice almost 1000 numbers in MONUSCO, removes the need to have additional infrastructure (cabling, switches, routers, pabxes, desk phones, etc...) only for voice, separate from data infrastructure. By having Teams Voice instead of traditional extension, users will be able to call from anywhere without having a physical extension. Aside from financial benefits, the ability to use Teams Voice while telecommuting will have huge savings on roaming voice calls.

What advice would you give women interested in pursuing a field in technology?

Enjoy what you do and you'll never work a single day! Work hard and don't stop thinking of what best we can provide ICT service to our end-user, not only on maintaining lights on in our infrastructure but also in the way other sections or units work. Think of opportunities, rather than constraints. Create opportunities for others to grow. Don't stop learning. Do not blame others but be humble and learn. Have as many mentors as you can who are really good in character, not just in words. Lastly, think about your career because no one is responsible about your career except you.