Ultimate E-Procurement Ninja Warrior: Coupa vs. Ivalua vs. SAP Ariba (Q3 2018 E-Procurement SolutionMap ‘Battle of the Best’)

Our ongoing Head-to-Head comparison series has been immensely popular with members of our new SolutionMap Insider subscription service. But for Q3 2018 SolutionMap results, which have not yet published, we thought it would be fun to shake things up a bit. With functional scoring for e-procurement software vendors now finalized for the quarter (and due out in September), the Spend Matters analyst team thought we’d tweak the Head-to-Head format to create a “Battle of the Best,” pitting the highest-ranked vendors in a given procurement software category against each other.

But unlike last week, when SAP Ariba and Ivalua faced off in the supplier management ring, we’re not talking about just two vendors. Today we’re adding a third company to the mix. In this SolutionMap Insider research brief, we pit against each other the three top-ranked e-procurement functional providers for Q3 2018: Coupa, Ivalua and SAP Ariba.

That’s right. Ivalua is the new sheriff in town, and it ties at least one of the other two in the functional rankings. But how does Ivalua stack up overall in this new e-procurement company?

In certain categories within our functional requirements for e-procurement — including catalog management, shopping and requisitioning, ordering, receiving, supplier network, configurability, technology, general services and overall average score — Coupa or SAP Ariba either come out on top or tie each other. But in two areas, Ivalua sneaks in a stealthy blow, besting the better-known e-procurement leaders.

And overall, it’s incredibly close. But one vendor gets the nod, taking the prize as the last procurement software company standing in this three-vendor ultimate ninja battle. Take note, however, that the right solution will vary based on different initiative and organizational requirements, as well as how much “heavy lifting” a procurement or finance organization wants to take on to enable different e-procurement scenarios.

Still, there’s no debate that e-procurement selection processes will reward procurement organizations that tailor vendor selection to their specific needs and even specific initiative requirements in cases where e-procurement will not be at the core of a suite-based selection.