Unlocking the Real Power of SAP GRC Access Control Solution with VASPP Add-Ons

⇨ SAP’s GRC Access Control solution is a widely recognized tool for efficiently managing user access to SAP applications and offers a wide range of capabilities for managing user access.

⇨ However, although SAP’s GRC Access Control solution offers a comprehensive set of reporting and auditing capabilities, it is also a complex solution that requires significant expertise and experience to set up and maintain.

⇨ VASPP's suite of innovative GRC add-ons address some of the challenges associated with traditional GRC Access Control solutions and provide organizations with more ergonomic and user-friendly interfaces that make it easier for end-users to submit access requests and manage their access rights.

SAP’s GRC Access Control solution is a widely recognized tool for efficiently managing user access to SAP applications. It offers a wide range of capabilities for managing user access, including automated access provisioning, access request workflows, and risk analysis along with access management automation. The solution is also capable of enforcing segregation of duties (SoD) policies to ensure that users do not have conflicting access privileges.

But while the tool offers a comprehensive set of reporting and auditing capabilities and is an essential tool for any organization that requires a secure and efficient way to manage user access to their SAP systems, it is also a complex solution that requires significant expertise and experience to set up and maintain. A few of the complexities of the solution involve the below:

• Poor user experience: SAP GRC Access Control UI is cluttered, outdated, and difficult to navigate, with limited options for customization or personalization. This often makes it challenging for the users to use the software effectively. Users also struggle to navigate the tool, which significantly impacts on the efficiency of compliance processes and onboarding automation.
• Operational complexities: SAP GRC Access Control solution’s ongoing maintenance and management is another complexity. The solution generates significant data and alerts and requires regular monitoring to ensure that access controls are working as intended. This includes reviewing SoD violations, evaluating user access requests, and managing emergency access procedures. In addition, the solution needs to be updated regularly to keep up with changes in the SAP environment and compliance requirements.
• Fastidious employee onboarding: Assigning accurate authorization to individuals is crucial to enabling them to perform their job profiles. But this is a challenge in GRC Access Control as it grants over-privileges and additional access rights without verifying existing access rights to data which can lead to security breaches.

• Risk exposure: SAP GRC Access Control lacks a clear risk description for business users. This can lead to an underestimation of risk, resulting in ineffective or insufficient action to mitigate it. Additionally, GRC AC can enable organizations to develop and implement ineffective risk management strategies, ultimately leading to inadequate control over critical assets.

Addressing challenges with VASPP add-ons

VASPP has created a suite of innovative GRC add-ons to address some of the challenges associated with traditional GRC Access Control solutions. These add-ons provide organizations with more ergonomic and user-friendly interfaces and make it easier for end-users to submit access requests and manage their access rights. The add-ons offer a modern web cockpit that streamlines the access request process and provides a more intuitive interface that requires less technical knowledge. Below are some of the capabilities that Vaspp add-ons offer.

Accelerated user onboarding

Currently, requesting access to certain resources or applications is often a tedious and frustrating process for end users in SAP GRC. Access requests are made through forms that can be long, complicated, and technical in nature. One example of a particularly technical access request form is the NWBC form within GRC Access Control. This form is used to manage user access to SAP systems, requires users to specify the exact transaction codes they need access to, provide detailed descriptions of their job responsibilities, and indicate the level of authorization they require. But the form can be difficult to navigate for users who are not familiar with SAP or who do not have a technical background, and the complexity of the form can often result in delays or errors in the access request process.

Access risk management

When users change positions within their companies, at times, they retain their old access, authorization, and permission even after changing positions. The current GRC analysis involves reviewing live data directly from the system, which reflects changes in access immediately. However, reviewing this data is time-consuming and may take up to a week or two, and the data can also become outdated quickly. The report generated from this analysis is shared with stakeholders, but decisions may take up to a month to be made, and sometimes even after an employee has left the company. This analysis is complex and tedious, with a lot of data to go through. As a result, it may not be the best use of user’s time, and they may be more effective in other tasks. Analyzing data is not easy, especially when dealing with large volumes. Vaspp solutions are certified add-ons and use smart analytics.

In the face of pressing demands, obtaining secure access can be a challenging task for many companies. Vaspp’s FireFighter (EAM) allows business and IT users privileged access rights across the SAP environment. This enables swift approval process as it provides a comprehensive list of the available FireFighter IDs. As a result, the emergency access management process is controlled, ensuring auditability and eliminating any lingering risks, fraud, or errors. FireFighter’s analytical view enables a comprehensive assessment of the utilization of FireFighter privileged access in the organization as it monitors trends by integrating the criticality of transactions.

Enhanced insights and risk mitigation

One of Vaspp solution’s features is the compliance register, a catalog of all the risks within an organization, including fraud patterns, best practices, and documentation. This enables internal control teams, auditing teams, and financial teams to fill in the catalog and run reports to ensure everything is running smoothly. The solution simplifies and enhances the risk management process.

In addition to improving the user experience, these add-ons also offer advanced functionality for managing access risks. For example, some solutions offer automated SoD risk analysis capabilities, providing users with greater visibility into potential conflicts and enabling them to make more informed access decisions. Other capabilities provide real-time access monitoring and remediation capabilities, allowing users to quickly identify and correct access issues before they can result in security incidents. The solution also incorporates an array of cutting-edge, innovative tools that enhance visibility in organization, including:

• A global risk map of an organization: This tool visually represents and illustrates the risks an organization faces in different locations worldwide. It effectively illustrates the potential hazards and vulnerabilities in a visually informative manner and ensures that the company adheres to best practices in risk security and compliance in terms of permission management and access to business data.
• Innovative dashboards: These dashboards offer a unique and advanced approach to present critical information and data, facilitating effortless monitoring and analysis. Dashboards and audit reports serve to enhance companies’ visibility and facilitate comprehensive analysis of the risks within their SAP information system.
• User-friendly and intuitive data analytics and insights: Data analytics and insights are specifically designed to be simple and user-friendly and enable efficient data organization and management. The user-friendly and intuitive interface allows users to easily navigate, accessing and analyze valuable information, enabling organizations to gain meaningful insights effortlessly.

These solutions are intended to augment visibility within the organization and offer effective means for understanding and addressing risks and challenges. As Mohamed Bennadja, CEO, VASPP says, “Our objective is to increase risk and compliance awareness and put organizations under better control. By using our tool, users will have a better understanding of risks, and ensure that access is removed when needed. Our tool provides visibility of trends and allows companies to remain clean by facilitating remediation and corrections. We aim to target critical issues and focus on them first. We have also expanded Prism and will continue to focus on the most critical issues.”

Three essential functions represent and underlie the core of each add-on and use of every application. These are:

Enhanced and intuitive UX: SAP’s GRC tool can be difficult to use and requires extensive clicking and navigating between windows. Vaspp add-ons use dashboards with drill down capabilities and multiple team colors to showcase the smart analytics solution. The interface is a user-friendly and easy-to-navigate tool that goes beyond spreadsheets and helps identify, analyze, and mitigate risk. The user interface is redesigned to be web-based and compatible on any browser that provides easier access and better analytics. This is particularly important because many end users find the GRC tool too complex and IT-focused. “We have added numerous new functionalities to our tool, including a detailed free-text evaluation feature for KPIs, as well as the ability to submit evaluations with open text. This feature is new and uses UI 5 in HTML. We have also introduced a new design, navigation, KPIs, IND characters, and risk trends to help businesses make better decisions,” says Bennadja.

Scalability: Vaspp add-ons are based on SAP framework and programming tools and can be customized to adapt and adjust the branding for different companies. The goal is to provide an easy, business-oriented and simple to use tool, which increases adoption rates and leads to better risk management for organizations. Fully scalable and branded design screens offer a flexible and adaptable onboarding process that can be adjusted according to the organization’s needs. By accelerating job identification and simplifying SAP access requests, these screens enable individuals across the organization to quickly and efficiently complete their tasks. Additionally, the screens ensure better compliance between existing job profiles and what is needed, thereby reducing errors and increasing productivity. With a new approach to listing and reviewing in the Approval Inbox, these screens provide a more streamlined and user-friendly experience for all users.

Reduced end-user training effort: To improve the current state of analytics, simplifying and innovating the process to reduce the time it takes to train business users on our solution is important. Vaspp solution is user-friendly, scalable, and built within the SAP framework, making it easily adaptable and reusable with existing SAP resources. It helps accelerate user onboarding, risk identification, and provides better risk insight.

Conclusion

With a presence in the industry since 2016, VASPP specializes in conceptualizing, developing, and implementing innovative ERP solutions specifically tailored to SAP software that accelerated the digital transformation process of businesses. Vaspp’s intuitive and comprehensive management solutions enhance productivity, provide a clear overview of key indicators, and offer greater flexibility in handling company data. This simplifies and streamlines business processes, facilitating efficient management within the organization.