Werneri Tuompo: There’s more than one way into the IT industry

In his role as a project manager Werneri works with a talented team building data-driven innovations on top of the unit’s flagship product: Data platform for health.

- I used to be on the receiving end of this data, using it in research in the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare knowledge management. Now I’ve moved closer to the start of the pipeline. What we do is gather and process vast amounts of data and make it accessible for different user cases, anything from research to knowledge management, AI development etc.

One of the users is the Hospital District of Helsinki.

- What we do helps the wellbeing of the whole nation, which adds great meaning to this job.

Werneri’s responsibilities include keeping the project on schedule and being the point of contact for customers. That’s where his background is very helpful.

Bad handwriting meets 1s and 0s

There’s an old joke saying doctors have incomprehensible handwriting, while IT people say that there are 10 types of people in this world, those who understand binary code and those who don’t. Part of Werneri’s job is to get these two groups to understand each other.

- My background is very useful in the sense that I can understand what medical staff need and with my ever-increasing knowledge of technology, I can help them understand how technology and infrastructure can solve many of the challenges they are facing.

The rapid development in data usage in the healthcare industry has made customers unsure about what technologies to adapt and how to use them. Tietoevry’s extensive experience and wide portfolio of products from the sector have made them a reliable partner.

A steep learning curve

Werneri has had a steep learning curve the first 18 months at Tietoevry, both when it comes to technology and ways of working.

- Getting my head around cloud-based technology like Microsoft Azure and how IT architects work has been a challenge, but my job isn’t being an IT expert. It’s more about understanding what my colleagues do, not being IT savvy myself.

The biggest change has been how the team works.

- Everything is done in sprints, Werneri says with a humorous tone. There are sprints and scrum meetings, and that is far from how I used to work. But there’s no doubt that this method is much better, and you get feedback on the project status much quicker with short sprints. It was a big change, but I like it.

Another aspect of the team Werneri cherishes is that it’s quick and nimble.

- There are several advantages to working for a big company like Tietoevry, and we combine that with the benefit of working in a small team. There’s no hierarchy and we make decisions very quickly. The other day a colleague said he was interested in being a scrum master, and we appointed him to the role immediately.

A small team where everyone knows one another well has an added advantage.

- When we all know and trust each other, we remove the fear of failure. To me, that’s the key to successful development. It bodes well for both the future of Tietoevry, and the Finnish health care sector.