SAP Access Control

What is SAP Access Control?

Improper access is a major security threat to SAP and other enterprise systems. The issue only gets worse as employees increasingly access their relevant applications remotely and on varying, often personal, devices. The goal of SAP Access Control is to ensure the right people are using the right software from the right device. It also helps track access information in case it needs to be reported later for compliance purposes or assessed for risk.

SAP Access Control’s key functions include:

• Risk analysis
• User provisioning
• Monitoring privileges
• Certifying authorizations
• Integration with enterprise systems
• Role definition and maintenance

Key SAP Access Control Considerations for SAPinsiders

What is SAP Access Control?

Improper access is a major security threat to SAP and other enterprise systems. The issue only gets worse as employees increasingly access their relevant applications remotely and on varying, often personal, devices. The goal of SAP Access Control is to ensure the right people are using the right software from the right device. It also helps track access information in case it needs to be reported later for compliance purposes or assessed for risk.

SAP Access Control’s key functions include:

• Risk analysis
• User provisioning
• Monitoring privileges
• Certifying authorizations
• Integration with enterprise systems
• Role definition and maintenance

Key SAP Access Control Considerations for SAPinsiders

• Quantify how improving user access and identity management impacts the bottom line. Most governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) organizations surveyed for our recent User Access and Identity Management for SAP S/4HANA report are facing budget constraints. That can make it hard to invest in software like SAP Access Control, but you can build the business case by finding those areas where unauthorized access can be costly. Added costs can come from cyberattacks, fraud, compliance-related fines, and rework to address audit issues. The cybersecurity threats are real — over a quarter of respondents noted having an access-related security breach in our April 2021 Securing the SAP Landscape Against Cyber Threats report.
• Audit your user access landscape. First, gain an understanding of which users are accessing which systems and why. Then, survey your users and identify which roles need which systems. These steps can help you be more efficient in integrating your access across your technology footprint.
• Integrate user access and identity management across your technology stack as part of your migration. Respondents to our latest User Access and Identity Management survey who worked for leading organizations were much more likely to integrate user access and identity management as part of digital transformation and integrate identity management across their heterogeneous application landscapes. These actions can help you optimize investment in software like SAP Access Control and create a holistic user access and identity management strategy.
• Centralize user access and identity processes to maximize your next technology investment. Centralizing user access and identity management can provide benefits that reduce risk, enable compliance, and make securing your systems easier. However, you must first unify the process by which you identify users and grant access to systems, no matter the business area or solution. That will make any technological investment more valuable when implemented.