As a Marketing professional, storytelling is a fundamental component of my role. Marketers prioritize storytelling for conveying a brand, including the projects we work on, who we are, what we have done, and what we can do. This is a different kind of story. This is the story of my realization that digital transformations save lives.
It was November 2019, and I was heading toward Houston, TX to attend my first ever ASUG conference at the prestigious Baylor College of Medicine. On the flight from Boston, I was looking forward to meeting some fresh faces and enjoying the warmer weather. As my plane began to descend, I watched as the clouds darkened and formed beads of rain that flew past my window like tiny comets. It became clear that I would not be escaping the New England autumn weather after all.
Inappropriately dressed for the chilly weather, I made my way to the Baylor College campus, lugging along banners, pamphlets, and branded cloud-shaped stress balls. With my two bulky suitcases full of swag, I was ready to tell all ASUG attendees about how amazing invenioLSI is. As someone still new to the industry at the time, I knew I could rely on my colleagues to do the literal heavy lifting when it came to technical terms and methodologies. Upon arriving, as my imposter syndrome kicked in and a lump formed in my throat, I entered Baylor College only to see patients in hospital gowns and doctors whizzing by in scrubs. To my surprise, the venue was a working hospital.
I made my way to the conference room and set up my gear. Three years later, I still remember listening to Shyam Jajodia present “One Giant Leap,” The University of Mississippi’s S/4 HANA project plan. As he walked through each step of invenioLSI’s S/4 workshop, he was interrupted by an abrupt announcement over the loudspeaker. The voice boomed, “Code Blue, Code Blue. We have Code Blue”. This code is a medical term often used to alert staff of a patient experiencing unexpected cardiac or respiratory arrest that requires resuscitation and activation of a hospital-wide alert. As we waited for the announcement to pass, a realization hit me: SAP software is more powerful than I thought.
Now I am not claiming that we are saving lives here—we will leave that to the brilliant doctors and nurses—but this event put things in perspective for me. SAP is much more than software, and invenioLSI does way more than just implement it. I started to consider the larger impact of transforming organizations like hospitals, schools, and local governments. I imagined that struggling patient and their family experiencing the worst day of their lives, struck by this terrible incident that unfortunately exemplifies what hospitals deal with every day. I started to think about all the processes that had to work in perfect unison so those doctors and nurses could focus on saving the patient’s life. When seeking medical treatment, the average person does not think about the intricate steps behind the scenes like entering patient information, searching for patient medical records, fulfilling medication requests, and many other administrative operations. During all stages of treatment, every step matters, and every step helps doctors, nurses, and medical staff to do their jobs faster, more efficiently, and better.
This profound experience is the reason I love my job. It is why I respect the consultants and team members I work with so much. SAP software and invenioLSI might not be saving lives directly, but we are transforming organizations so their staff can more efficiently save lives. With our help, hospitals, governments, schools, and universities can focus on what matters—people. For anyone wondering if a career in tech and SAP is rewarding, meaningful, and can change lives, my answer to you is yes. Join our team, learn more, and see how you can impact the Public Sector—or how it can impact you.