In today’s complex enterprise environments, organizations often operate multiple SAP and non-SAP systems across various business units and geographies. Managing governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) across these diverse landscapes can be challenging. SAP Governance, Risk, and Compliance (SAP GRC) offers robust capabilities to integrate and consolidate controls, risks, and compliance processes across multiple systems—helping enterprises achieve unified visibility and control.
This article explores how SAP GRC supports multi-system integration, its benefits, and best practices for implementation.
Large enterprises typically have several SAP systems, such as SAP ERP, SAP S/4HANA, SAP CRM, and more. Additionally, they may run non-SAP systems like Oracle, Salesforce, or homegrown applications. Each system maintains its own user access, risk profiles, and compliance requirements, making manual management inefficient and prone to errors.
Multi-system integration in SAP GRC enables organizations to:
- Consolidate risk and compliance data from heterogeneous landscapes.
- Enforce consistent access control and policies across systems.
- Streamline audit processes with centralized reporting.
- Reduce duplication of effort and operational costs.
- Centralized Access Risk Analysis: SAP GRC AC can connect to multiple backend systems to analyze user access, detect Segregation of Duties (SoD) conflicts, and identify compliance risks across the entire IT landscape.
- Unified Access Request Management: Users can request access to multiple systems via a single interface, streamlining provisioning workflows.
- Cross-System Emergency Access Management: Provides controlled, temporary elevated access across systems during emergencies.
- Enables monitoring and automation of controls across various applications, ensuring compliance and risk mitigation in multi-system environments.
¶ 3. SAP Risk Management and Audit Management
- Aggregate risk data and audit findings from different systems for consolidated risk assessment and reporting.
- SAP GRC uses connectors such as SAP NetWeaver Gateway, RFC (Remote Function Calls), or web services to establish communication with SAP and non-SAP systems.
- Middleware and adapters enable integration with non-SAP environments.
- Access rights, user roles, and risk data are imported into SAP GRC from each connected system.
- SAP GRC normalizes and correlates this data to provide a unified risk landscape view.
- Access requests are managed through SAP GRC, which then triggers provisioning in respective backend systems based on approvals.
- SoD checks and risk analysis are performed across all connected systems before access is granted.
- Holistic Risk Visibility: Single pane of glass for governance and compliance data from all systems.
- Consistent Policy Enforcement: Uniform application of access controls and risk mitigation strategies across platforms.
- Improved Efficiency: Automated workflows and centralized management reduce manual overhead.
- Audit Readiness: Simplifies audits with comprehensive reports encompassing all relevant systems.
- Scalability: Supports integration as enterprises grow or adopt new technologies.
- Define Clear Integration Scope: Identify which systems and data sources need to be integrated.
- Standardize Data: Establish common data formats and risk taxonomies across systems.
- Leverage SAP Best Practices: Use SAP-provided connectors and integration tools where possible.
- Engage Stakeholders: Collaborate with IT, security, and business teams to align objectives and policies.
- Ensure Continuous Monitoring: Regularly update integrations and monitor data consistency.
In an era of digital transformation and complex IT landscapes, leveraging SAP GRC for multi-system integration is crucial for comprehensive governance, risk management, and compliance. By connecting disparate systems into a unified GRC platform, organizations gain improved control, transparency, and operational efficiency—helping them stay compliant and resilient in a rapidly evolving business environment.