A global consumer products leader streamlines ERP monitoring with PwC’s Enterprise Control solution
90%
Of configurable ERP control tests now fully automated across eight systems
30%
Reduction in global controls testing costs year over year
5
Legacy platforms consolidated into a single Enterprise Control solution
PwC implemented a unified control solution — so the client can reduce risk, cut costs and manage compliance with confidence
SITUATION
Scaling compliance — and unlocking value along the way
A global consumer products company had made a significant investment in deploying SAP across the globe, including advancing security, controls and GRC capabilities to take advantage of the SAP investment. This investment both improved and created a control environment with a high degree of automated and preventive controls. With this shift toward automation and having better access to data, the client had taken steps toward the next level of maturity by creating automated continuous monitoring capabilities through analytics and configuration monitoring tools — but had struggled to achieve scale in a cost-efficient manner.
The result was disparate compliance monitoring processes and multiple technologies that individually and collectively only achieved a portion of the desired outcome — a cost-efficient compliance solution that also drove business value. The team knew they needed to transform their approach to compliance by leveraging technology differently to digitally enable the process, lower costs and drive better value. They asked PwC to help.
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SOLUTION
One platform. Smarter testing. Stronger compliance.
PwC had a longstanding, trusted relationship with the client across multiple lines of service, including in the SAP controls and compliance space. This deep relationship allowed PwC and client leaders to collaborate on practical options to move the needle, including demonstrating quantifiable ROI on compliance investment.
Specifically, the client was a perfect candidate for Enterprise Control, an application that PwC had recently developed because controls testing and analytics are such common challenges across our client base of large enterprises. Enterprise Control, utilizing SAP HANA, enabled the team to address operational compliance, risk management and analytics across large data sets, and to consolidate five separate platforms into one. Paired with their existing data visualization capability, business teams were able to drive better insight and control their own destiny.
Now, the client was able to more efficiently automate risk-focused, transactional key performance indicators (KPIs) and streamline configuration control testing across six ERP instances. The use of Enterprise Control also allowed teams to overcome data extraction challenges and further automate end-to-end compliance processes, which permitted control owners to review exception results and act in a more proactive way, driving cost savings and business value.
RESULTS
Automated, streamlined and built to scale
With Enterprise Control in place, the client now automates approximately 90% of configurable control testing across eight ERP systems — dramatically reducing manual effort and boosting coverage. As a result, global testing costs have dropped by 30%, and compliance operations are more consistent and efficient.
The client’s teams can now manage data extractions, testing, and remediation directly from the platform, accelerating analysis and enabling faster action. What once took days — or wasn’t feasible at all — now takes minutes. Enterprise Control has become the foundation for risk-based analytics across the organization, powering process improvements, better controls, and direct cost savings.
The platform will also support the client’s upcoming ERP and go-to-market transformation, managing everything from risk and control governance to testing, reporting, and incident tracking — bringing lasting value across lines of defense.