Oct 21, 2020
•1 minute read
SAP GRC
SAP GRC focuses on the governance, risk, and compliance practices, technologies, and processes used to keep SAP environments secure, auditable, and aligned with regulatory requirements. For SAP customers, this includes SAP GRC products as well as related capabilities for access control, process control, risk management, threat detection, identity governance, financial compliance, and privacy governance across SAP ERP, SAP S/4HANA, cloud, and hybrid landscapes. The topic is relevant to IT, security, audit, finance, compliance, and business process owners who need stronger controls, better visibility, and more confidence in how SAP systems are governed
What is SAP GRC?
SAP GRC is the set of tools and business processes organizations use to manage governance, risk, and compliance across SAP systems. In practical terms, it helps enterprises control user access, monitor segregation of duties, automate compliance workflows, detect risk, support audits, and align business processes with internal and external requirements. SAP GRC can refer to SAP-native solutions such as SAP Access Control and SAP Process Control, as well as broader GRC activities connected to SAP environments. The goal is to reduce risk while making compliance repeatable, visible, and scalable.
SAP GRC focuses on the governance, risk, and compliance practices, technologies, and processes used to keep SAP environments secure, auditable, and aligned with regulatory requirements. For SAP customers, this includes SAP GRC products as well as related capabilities for access control, process control, risk management, threat detection, identity governance, financial compliance, and privacy governance across SAP ERP, SAP S/4HANA, cloud, and hybrid landscapes. The topic is relevant to IT, security, audit, finance, compliance, and business process owners who need stronger controls, better visibility, and more confidence in how SAP systems are governed
What is SAP GRC?
SAP GRC is the set of tools and business processes organizations use to manage governance, risk, and compliance across SAP systems. In practical terms, it helps enterprises control user access, monitor segregation of duties, automate compliance workflows, detect risk, support audits, and align business processes with internal and external requirements. SAP GRC can refer to SAP-native solutions such as SAP Access Control and SAP Process Control, as well as broader GRC activities connected to SAP environments. The goal is to reduce risk while making compliance repeatable, visible, and scalable.
How do enterprises use SAP GRC?
Access control and segregation of duties
Enterprises use SAP GRC to manage who can access sensitive transactions, data, and processes in SAP systems. Access control and SoD monitoring help prevent conflicts, reduce fraud risk, and support cleaner audit outcomes.
Continuous controls monitoring
SAP GRC supports ongoing monitoring of business and IT controls rather than relying only on periodic manual reviews. This helps compliance teams identify exceptions earlier and standardize control testing across SAP processes.
Audit readiness and evidence management
Organizations use SAP GRC to document controls, track remediation, and provide auditors with clearer evidence. In SAP environments, this is especially valuable for financial controls, user access reviews, and regulated business processes.
Risk management during transformation
SAP GRC becomes especially important during SAP S/4HANA migrations, cloud adoption, and business process redesign. Teams can reassess roles, controls, approval workflows, and compliance requirements as part of transformation planning.
Identity governance across hybrid landscapes
As SAP landscapes expand across cloud, on-premise, and third-party systems, enterprises use GRC and identity governance tools to maintain consistent policies. This supports access reviews, role design, and risk visibility across mixed environments.
Where does SAP GRC emerge in SAPinsider research?
State of the Market GRC in SAP Environments shows that SAP customers are modernizing GRC as regulatory complexity, audit fatigue, and fragmented access governance increase. The research found that 60% of organizations are automating GRC processes and 53% are centralizing control workflows.
The Automating and Integrating GRC Processes report highlights the push to make compliance and audit work more efficient. The report found that 65% of respondents focus on end-to-end automated processes to meet compliance and audit requirements.
Cybersecurity Threats and Challenges to SAP Systems connects SAP GRC priorities to security risk. The report found that 23% of respondents experienced credential compromise, social engineering, malware or ransomware, or another cyberattack impacting their SAP environment in the past year.
Case Study: Inside Stericycle’s successful transformation projectStericycle’s Project Monarch has successfully transformed over 500 business system processes to a harmonized landscape of just over 50 within four core applications. This has helped reduce customer invoicing from days/weeks/months to seconds/minutes/hours; shorten financial closes from over 28 days to less than a week; and drive management of indirect spend from less than 10% to more than 90%. In addition, attendees to this session will also learn how Stericycle was able to:
- Leverage standard processes to integrate business acquisitions within weeks, rather than months
- Automate and integrate systematic controls to replace manual ones
- Digitize processes to eliminate paper-based systems and add improved accuracy and quality
- Embed real-time data and analytics to replace incorrect, incomplete, and stale data
How Ingevity automated GRC processes to better manage elevated access risksIngevity Corporation, a large public chemicals manufacturer, was faced with manually managing elevated access and meeting compliance requirements for internal financial auditing controls. The organization needed to ease the governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) burden on it SAP security team and overhaul its GRC processes. Attend this session to learn how Ingevity implemented elevated access management in a compliant manner, identified and remediated roles that posed risks, and became better prepared for audits. Topics include:
•How automating elevated access is more secure and compliant than using manual processes
•How proper tooling can simplify your organization’s governance processes
•How cloud-based solutions are meeting the demands of today’s GRC challenges
•Why auditors need a detailed audit trail and how to provide one
Oct 20, 2020
•1 minute read
Case Study: How Jabil is Transforming SAP Governance using Robotic Process AutomationAs part of the maturing the governance processes at Jabil, the company leverages several automation techniques to reduce manual tasks and streamline repetitive activities. The governance team leveraged robotic process automation (RPA) technology and the use of standard web services to automate various activities. This session shares specific examples of how RPA and web services are being used at Jabil to support SAP Access Control governance tasks. Attendees will:
- Identify access control processes that can be automated using RPA and web services
- Gain an understanding of how RPA and web services can be integrated with SAP Access Control •Obtain specific examples and use cases where RPA is being used to automate governance tasks
- Understand how to make a case for operational efficiency and improve risk posture
- See specific examples of how RPA and web services are being used to support Access Control governance tasks
- Identify Access Control processes that can be automated using RPA and web services Gain an understanding of how RPA and web services can be integrated with Access Control Obtain specific examples and use cases where RPA is being used to automate GRC tasks Understand how to make a case for operational efficiency and improve risk posture
Oct 20, 2020
•1 minute read
Eight Questions to Ask Before Upgrading your GRC platformDifferent enterprises have different risk appetites, different compliance requirements, different operational processes, and different investment goals. What is right for one organization may not be right for another. But, whatever the right answer is, the modern enterprise must align its diverse stakeholders in order to get the right solution implemented. Find other insightful resources […]
Jul 13, 2020
•1 minute read
Business Continuity Track at SAPinsider Virtual Event Features Strategies and Quick Wins from SAP and PartnersThe economic disruption caused by COVID-19 has impacted organizations at all levels of their operations, creating a unique environment that makes business continuity uncertain and challenging. To address this world-wide experience SAPinsider will host a special track with SAP and partners at our 2020 virtual event to help businesses leverage SAP technology and best practices to not only maintain business continuity, but also thrive during this time.
Apr 30, 2020
•5 minute read
The Impact of SAP S/4HANA On-Premise Migration on SAP Roles and AuthorizationsWith the SAP-imposed deadline of 2027 looming for migrating to SAP S/4HANA, many of SAP’s customers are currently considering migrating their legacy ERP system to SAP S/4HANA. Resilient security is essential when moving forward with new technologies, and SAP software is no exception. SAP has made significant changes to the business suite’s data model in SAP S/4HANA, resulting in thousands of changes to authorization objects, transactions, applications, and modules. These changes to roles and authorizations will affect organizations' security design, an impact that SAPinsider Expert Michael Kummer says many project managers aren't fully aware of. In his article he describes the significant changes made and their impact on security models.
After reading this article you will be able to:
- Prevent incompatible role and authorization concepts from impeding your SAP S/4HANA migration
- Avoid unforeseen issues during migration
- Limit the effect on business users during test cycles
Mar 18, 2020
•8 minute read
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