The partnership was recently recognised at the SAP Best Tech Awards 2025 in the Chris O’Brien category, which celebrates organisations using SAP solutions to drive social impact and shared value. But behind the award was something deeper than a successful technology implementation. It was a shared commitment to building systems ethically, responsibly, and with people at the centre.
For The Smith Family, the project was never simply about modernising HR and payroll processes. It was about creating a stronger operational foundation that could better support the organisation’s long-term mission and the communities it serves.
As Claudia Milanesi, HR People & Systems Advisor at The Smith Family, explained in the original feature, the organisation approached the transformation with a clear understanding that technology should serve people, not the other way around.
That principle shaped every stage of the engagement.
Rather than imposing change through a purely technical lens, the EPI-USE team worked closely with The Smith Family to create a collaborative and transparent process focused on long-term sustainability. The project prioritised capability-building, knowledge transfer, and practical empowerment so internal teams could confidently own and manage the environment moving forward.
Many charities and purpose-driven organisations face increasing pressure to modernise operations while continuing to maximise every available resource. Technology investments need to create meaningful operational improvements without losing sight of the human realities behind the work.
That is where EPI-USE’s approach stood apart. The implementation was designed around partnership rather than dependency. Instead of simply delivering a system, the project focused on embedding confidence, resilience, and operational clarity within The Smith Family’s teams.
Lauren Rooker, National Manager, People and Performance at The Smith Family, noted that shared values played a major role in the success of the project.
That alignment became particularly important during moments of organisational change and complexity. According to the team, the project succeeded because decisions were consistently guided by fairness, transparency, and a clear understanding of the broader mission behind the work.
The result was not only a successful SAP SuccessFactors environment, but a stronger organisational platform capable of supporting future growth and service delivery.
Importantly, the partnership also demonstrated how technology can strengthen accountability across social impact organisations.
Purpose-driven organisations often manage highly complex ecosystems involving employees, volunteers, donors, stakeholders, and communities. Systems therefore need to support far more than operational efficiency. They need to create visibility, consistency, and trust across the organisation.
EPI-USE approached the project with that understanding from the outset. By embedding ethical decision-making into the implementation process itself, the partnership created systems that aligned operational performance with organisational values. That included prioritising sustainable design choices, supporting change management carefully, and ensuring people remained engaged throughout the journey.
As Milanesi reflected: “Technology, when guided by values, can strengthen community outcomes.”
That philosophy increasingly matters as organisations across every sector navigate growing expectations around transparency, governance, and responsible technology adoption. The conversation around digital transformation has evolved significantly in recent years. Organisations are no longer evaluating technology solely on functionality. They are also assessing how systems are implemented, how change is managed, and whether partnerships genuinely support long-term resilience.
For EPI-USE, this project highlights the role technology partners can play in helping organisations build capability, not only infrastructure.
The partnership with The Smith Family shows what becomes possible when technology delivery is grounded in shared purpose, ethical leadership, and human-centred collaboration.
It also reinforces an important idea for the broader industry: the most valuable technology transformations are often the ones that quietly strengthen the people and organisations doing meaningful work in the world.
At its core, that is what made this partnership award-winning. Not only the systems that were implemented, but the way the work was done.