Zip named a Value Leader in the Spring 2026 SolutionMap
Here’s why Zip earned four Top Tech badges in Hackett Group's evaluation.
Zip has been named a Value Leader in The Hackett Group's Spring 2026 SolutionMap, earning Top Tech recognition in four of the most contested categories in source-to-pay:
- Intake and Orchestration
- Procure-to-Pay
- E-Procurement
- AP Automation
For a procurement platform, breadth like this is rare, and we’re incredibly proud to be placed at this level in the Spring 2026 SolutionMap.
"This isn't a case of a point tool expanding into an adjacent category. It's a case of a platform architecture being strong enough that the 'adjacent category' becomes a natural extension of what the platform already does well." - Nick Heinzmann, Head of Research, Zip. Read his full analysis →
Why SolutionMap cuts through AI marketing claims
Every procurement vendor is making AI claims right now, and most of them are difficult to verify from a website. SolutionMap exists to fix that.
Built over nearly a decade under Spend Matters and now part of The Hackett Group's Solution Intelligence practice, SolutionMap evaluates 118 vendors across 16 source-to-pay categories against 500+ functional and capability requirements. Every provider must complete mandatory product demonstrations and submit to anonymized, verified customer value ratings.
That methodology is what makes inclusion meaningful; Top Tech recognition across four categories is what makes it a buying signal.
As Carina Kuhl, Principal of Solution Intelligence at The Hackett Group, put it: "In today's market, 'build vs. buy' decisions are increasingly driven by AI claims, and those claims are hard to validate. SolutionMap turns solution intelligence into decision-grade insurance by helping teams shortlist faster, de-risk selections and separate real capability from marketing narrative."
What the analysts said about Zip
The Spend Matters analyst team highlighted three areas of differentiated strength in their evaluation of Zip:
Depth for regulated industries. Zip offers differentiated archival and audit capabilities that support customers operating in highly regulated verticals, a level of rigor most intake and orchestration platforms don't attempt.
Category leadership in intake and orchestration. Spend Matters credits Zip as largely responsible for the rise of the intake and orchestration market in the 2020s, pointing to our continued focus on ease of use, depth, interoperability between systems, and flexible no-code workflows.
A true integration backbone. With a native iPaaS, out-of-the-box integration options, and ongoing integration management, Zip is built to connect, not just coexist, with the rest of the enterprise stack.
What this means for procurement buyers
When an analyst firm with The Hackett Group's rigor puts a platform through 500+ criteria, mandatory demos, and verified customer feedback, the result is something buyers can actually take into a boardroom.
For teams currently running a vendor selection or building a business case for procurement orchestration, four Top Tech categories means Zip can credibly cover the full intake-to-pay lifecycle in a single platform, rather than requiring buyers to stitch together best-of-breed tools across intake, P2P, e-procurement, and AP.
Thank you to our customers, whose trust made this recognition possible, and to the analyst teams for the depth of their work.
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AI procurement orchestration, from intake to pay
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