JAGGAER REV2025: Q&A with Diego De la Garza, BearingPoint
JAGGAER REV2025 in Miami saw procurement professionals embrace a host of innovative technologies and strategies.
Diego De la Garza, Sourcing & Procurement Lead for North America at BearingPoint, discussed his company's partnership with JAGGAER and how to harness the power of digital tools to accelerate the sustainability performance.
Tell us about the partnership between BearingPoint and JAGGAER
BearingPoint is a global management consulting firm. We started working with JAGGAER about six years ago. And we believe that we are a differentiated type of consultancy firm. Specifically in the relationship with JAGGAER, we do a lot of work in manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, and so, when you think about JAGGAER's functionality and depth, particularly in the direct space, that's where we really shine.
We have deep expertise in those topics. We work with a lot of organisations who really need that type of functionality. But we also have process knowledge. And so, I really think that our alliance has been very symbiotic from the beginning. We continue to thrive in supporting customers and clients in those industry spaces with complex challenges, especially today, where you have supply chain topics or uncertainty in areas where our clients are really challenged in terms of being successful.
We bring in the advisory piece, we bring in the technology implementation piece and we also drive adoption. Knowing the needs around change management, supplier enablement topics. And so, we look forward to the next 15 years of our alliance.
What challenges are you currently seeing and trying to solve?
Supply chain disruption, resiliency, sustainability and digital transformation are day-to-day topics. But at the same time, one of the concerns we get a lot is how are we going to really use this new tool, this new system, this new platform to really achieve goals and objectives.
I think a lot of that is driven through a little bit of the fear and change resistance. We work very closely with JAGGAER and our clients in making sure that it's just not a system that we're deploying; it's really the purpose that we're trying to drive. I think that creates a little bit of a different mindset in our customers' mind that, "they are here to help; they're going to do this with us, not to us".
Driving that type of behaviour actually changes the way in which the tool is perceived. It creates a little bit of an appetite to take on the challenge of those themes that we talked about. How are we going to talk to our suppliers? How are we going to make sure our suppliers become part of our environment in a different way that's just not transactional, but more partner-driven type of behaviour?
From there on, how to use data? How do you really make sure the data you have is driving strategic decisions and driving the company forward. And what are the activities we need to do around data transformation and digital transformation so that, ultimately, those decisions really are tied to the outcomes and the strategic vision of the organisations?
How do you go about helping companies accelerate to reach their objectives?
As an advisory firm and knowing the technology and knowing what it does, it's important to let people recognise that it is a journey. You want to accelerate, sure, but there are milestones. There are steps. Understand what the journey looks like and recognise what those milestones are going to be where you can really claim little wins or achieve little goals and then build upon them. That's what creates momentum. And we always say in our organisation, slow is steady, steady is fast.
If we have a good vision, if we understand those little milestones, then you actually create a lot of traction within the organisation that brings that acceleration. Then you identify synergies as you go. What you believe you're going to accomplish tomorrow based on where you are today is different than what you learned within the process.
I also think recognising volatility as a constant, and that change is the only thing that's always going to be there, helps people recognise that they need to be agile, that they need to be aware of what's coming. As you start to learn about your own journey, you create those accelerators.
We work with JAGGAER in making sure that the technology is up there and it's keeping up with the needs of our customers and that BearingPoint is ready to deploy that technology. We're there to support the behaviours of the organisation, the change management, the adoption of the tool, but also how the tool be used differently than just deploying a source-to-pay or a P2P solution. It's more about achieving those outcomes, then you create a very moulding and flexible system that will support getting those outcomes faster.
How can using these digital tools accelerate the sustainability performance for companies?
I think it really starts with learning how to use a tool, but then learning how to use the data that you have in that tool and complementing it by creating relationships. When we talk about sustainability, we're talking about supplier relationships as well – understanding what your suppliers are doing, what the suppliers of your suppliers are doing, so you get real deep knowledge on what's really my exposure. What's my opportunity to be more sustainable, to drive the organisation forward from a sustainability and ESG perspective?
Starting a little slow, recognising those milestones and then creating acceleration as you go, but making sure that it's just not the tool, it's not just the system and how flexible it can be, is how you leverage that to create profound relationships with your supply base.
That creates resiliency, that creates a true vision on the sustainability aspect and it can really drive how your sustainability vision will be tied to your operations. The technology will do something, it's a tool, but it's only as powerful as its people. And so, you always want to make sure people are using the tool to enable better dialogue, to have more conversations across the board, with stakeholders, the leadership team, your suppliers – those are the outcomes that are really going to drive value to the organisation.
Sustainability will be great once you have data, once you have process and once you have better networking, enablement approach with stakeholders in the community.
Is there a secret to a high-quality, effective implementation?
There absolutely is. It's a formula, more than a secret, I would say.
Number one is making sure that the technology functionality that you're implementing is adequate for the solution you want to solve for. The system is very flexible. JAGGAER has a lot of different modules that can address a lot of different issues and achieve a lot of different outcomes. So, make sure your scope is tailored to what you need to do, what you want to accomplish. It starts with identifying your outcomes or desired outcomes.
Number two is understanding who are going to be the individuals who are going to drive that initiative for the organisation. Even outside of your system integrators, like BearingPoint is, do you have the right resources from IT? Do you have the sponsorship from the CFO, from the CIO, from the CPO? What's the procurement role? Do you have the team? Do you have daily jobs? Implementation is going to demand a lot of energy and a lot of attention from them.
The third one is recognising the maturity of the organisation. Are they ready to adopt something new? Is change being recognised within the organisation and is the company ready to embrace that change? And that means, is my supply base ready to understand that we're going to be using a new tool to maybe transact with them, onboarding them?
The fourth element is having a good implementation partner, somebody like BearingPoint who understands not just the technology, not just the organisation and the industry that organisations operate within, but also how to drive adoption, how to drive change, how to make sure that the behaviours are there so that ultimately it's a successful implementation.
