Ensuring GRC is a Bedrock of SAP S/4HANA Transformations
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Key Takeaways
⇨ Establishing robust Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) is critical throughout the SAP S/4HANA migration journey, ensuring security and meeting regulatory obligations.
⇨ Key focus areas for effective GRC include Identity and Access Governance, Continuous Controls Monitoring, and deploying robust security configurations like role-based access controls (RBAC) and multi-factor authentication (MFA).
⇨ Organizations should prioritize creating a compliance roadmap before implementation, rely on experienced partners like Pathlock for support, and maintain ongoing monitoring post-migration to safeguard sensitive data and streamline operations.
Migrating to or implementing SAP S/4HANA, SAP’s next-generation ERP suite, is a significant undertaking for organizations, often driven by the upcoming end of mainstream maintenance for SAP ECC in 2027, the need for digital transformation, or the desire for real-time data processing and automation.
While organizations often focus on the exciting possibilities it can provide, one consideration they should not overlook is the critical importance of establishing robust Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) throughout the SAP S/4HANA journey.
Understanding the Facets of GRC
To help companies understand the key GRC considerations they should make in an SAP S/4HANA transition, the SAP GRC leaders at Pathlock highlighted the important focus areas in this digital transformation process.
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Effective GRC in an SAP S/4HANA implementation encompasses several key areas:
Identity and Access Governance is important to ensure security during and after the transition. This involves managing user access, ensuring compliant provisioning, conducting access certifications, and handling elevated access management.
SAP organizations are turning to partners like Pathlock for solutions that offer fine-grained identity security and governance for business-critical applications, aiming to reduce risk and lower compliance costs.
Pathlock’s connector for SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud specifically facilitates segregation of duties (SoD) analysis, user provisioning, role management, and usage logging. Their capabilities include Access Risk Analysis, understanding sensitive access for users and roles, and extracting fine-grained permissions beyond typical user and entitlement data.
Continuous Controls Monitoring is vital to ensure ongoing compliance and security. This includes monitoring configuration changes, business process controls, and application control. SAP S/4HANA itself provides built-in security features and automated monitoring for compliance with regulatory bodies like SOX and GDPR.
However, ensuring proper configuration of access controls and data encryption is critical for meeting strict compliance requirements like SOX, GDPR, and SOC 2 during cloud migration. Solutions like Pathlock support initiatives such as Audit Readiness, GRC and IGA Modernization, Data Security Regulations, and automating SOX compliance.
Throughout the migration phases – from initial assessment and planning to development, testing, and deployment – GRC considerations are paramount. This involves defining compliance requirements early on, assessing existing access controls, validating configurations during testing, and implementing robust security configurations like role-based access controls (RBAC) and multi-factor authentication (MFA) in the production environment.
After the Go-live Date
Post-migration, ongoing monitoring for both performance and compliance is essential. By prioritizing GRC throughout the SAP S/4HANA implementation or migration, organizations can not only achieve operational benefits but also ensure they meet regulatory obligations and protect sensitive data in the new, modernized ERP landscape.
What This Means for SAPinsiders
Data is the bedrock of SAP S/4HANA, so keeping it secure should be a priority. As companies move into a new way of doing business with SAP S/4HANA, they cannot afford to let data management slip through the cracks. Proper governance and risk mitigation ensures that companies are insulated from issues without hampering access to data that key stakeholders may need.
Trust experience before going live. There is no substitute for experience, so companies may run into unanticipated issues or questions in their new deployments as it pertains to GRC. Companies should rely on partners like Pathlock who know how to overcome any problems thanks to their significant experience in the SAP GRC space.
Know before you go. Laying out a compliance roadmap ahead of an implementation can save time on the back end. Understanding which regulations must be adhered to helps companies to organize their deployment paths and ensure successful SAP S/4HANA implementations.
