Global Oilfield Leader Boosts Access Controls with SAP Cloud IAG

In a rapidly evolving regulatory environment, ensuring effective access governance is not only a best practice but a critical compliance requirement, especially for chief financial officers (CFOs) and controllers focused on internal controls and compliance. Our most recent SOX Compliance poll of Audit and Finance Executives found that over 50% of organisations reported increased compliance costs from the prior year. Further, only a third of organisations are maximising the use of enabling technologies to manage those costs with survey respondents also noting the increased use of technology as a top priority.

Our client, a leading oilfield services provider, faced mounting concerns over automation and the ability to implement financial controls to manage sensitive SAP access and segregation of duties (SOD). Recognising the urgency to strengthen its access management capabilities and prevent recurring compliance deficiencies, the company chose SAP’s Cloud Identity Access Governance (IAG) solution to modernise and automate its SAP access governance processes.

Client challenge

The client deployed SAP S/4HANA as its core ERP system (deployed in the cloud through the RISE with SAP programme). The primary challenge faced after going live was a lack of centralised visibility, automation and control over SAP access risks. Critical challenges included:

• Pervasive SOD and sensitive access conflicts in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition.
• Lack of consistent process and governance of privileged and administrative access.
• Manual and error-prone procedures for access provisioning and deprovisioning.

Limited governance structure over SAP access management responsibilities, resulting in over provisioning of access and inability to effectively review access on a periodic basis.

These challenges not only jeopardised the company’s compliance posture but also created inefficiencies in access management, raising audit and security concerns.