Celebrating a decade with the Saratoga team

Celebrating a decade at the same company, especially within the IT industry, is a milestone not often reached by professionals these days. This July we are honoured to celebrate four Saratogans who have spent the past decade with Saratoga and who have each made countless valuable and meaningful contributions to their teams and to the company as a whole during this time.

As we celebrate this significant milestone, we’ve asked our Saratogans to reflect on this anniversary and their journeys within the team.

Allen Edwards 

Spending ten years at a company is a significant milestone and for Allen working for an organisation whose core values are aligned with his own has been imperative. Team members who are committed to always giving their best, sharing their knowledge, and who treat each other with trust, respect, and honesty is a win in his book and is ultimately what has enabled him to reach this milestone at Saratoga. 

During these past ten years, there have been many memorable moments for Allen, but it’s always been a goal reached when a client values your contribution.

“It’s about understanding and always striving to meet the client’s expectations which for me means being willing and able to adapt to an ever-changing business environment.”

In the past ten years Allen has learnt many important lessons, such as the value of true team work. “There is no substitute for team work, every successful project implementation requires a team effort.”

Other important lessons Allen has learnt over the years includes taking both the positive and negatives from every project as lessons when moving forward, and to not underestimate the importance of maintaining a good work-life balance. 

Melanie Wagner 

For Melanie, she’s reached this milestone as part of the Saratoga team because she found a team in which she feels she belongs and an organisation that supports both her professional and personal development.   

Thanks to the support of her fellow Saratogans, Melanie has developed over the years in many areas of her life and her supportive team has also helped her to navigate through some difficult times. “A strong team is not only an asset to the company, but also to the individuals of that team.”

Working for an organisation such as Saratoga, who is passionate about developing their people, along with working with a team that celebrates and supports one another, made it easy for Melanie to reach this milestone anniversary.

One key lesson she has learnt during this time is that change is inevitable in life, and what truly matters is how you see things and how you embrace change. “You might see change as stumbling blocks in your professional journey, or you can see it as stepping stones.”

Shamimah Khan 

Reaching the decade anniversary milestone for Shamimah all comes down to the people at Saratoga. “Our people at Saratoga, how we interact with each other, both professionally and personally, is why I’ve stayed a Saratogan for 10 years.” 

Reflecting on an important achievement, Shamimah sees her role in the team that provided a prominent insurance client with a successful electronic processing pilot project as one of her biggest achievements. “It gave me great pleasure and was very rewarding, being part of a Saratoga team who landed a successful pilot project for our client.” 

Ebrahim Orrie

“I was always lucky to have colleagues that understand me and value my input.” Without the support and guidance from the people around him, Ebrahim believes it would not have been possible to reach the 10-year milestone and would like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved in contributing to his career in every way and form over the years.

For Ebrahim, the supportive and learning-focused environment created by Saratoga has contributed to making him the best professional he can be. He believes setbacks and success are what leads to learning. “The lessons in both are very important and there will always be one or many lessons to be learnt.”

Having been part of many successful teams and seeing firsthand how one’s work creates real-world benefits for organisations gives Ebrahim a great sense of ‘satisfaction and humbleness’.

Congratulations to Allen, Melanie, Shamimah and Ebrahim! Thank you for choosing to be a part of the Saratoga team and for the positive impacts you’ve made to our clients and to Saratoga as a whole.