SAP Identity Management


What is SAP Identity Management?

With SAP Identity Management, organizations can perform identity provisioning, data synchronization, and identity virtualization. It enables organizations to embed identity management into their business processes and centralize user access management. The SAP Identity Management component helps organizations align user lifecycle management with key business processes running in cloud and on-premise. Business managers can define role-based user access rights and implement identity management across enterprise applications while providing centralized data, alerts, and reporting. The solution supports identity management across SAP software as well as heterogeneous and hybrid landscapes, including third-party business applications, operations systems, e-mail systems, and databases.

Key capabilities include:

  • Line-of-business-driven identity management
  • Built-in connector to cloud-based Identity Provisioning service
  • Reporting and auditing functionality
  • Password management and employee self-service
  • Business-aligned user access rights, roles, and privileges

Key Considerations for SAPinsiders

What is SAP Identity Management?

With SAP Identity Management, organizations can perform identity provisioning, data synchronization, and identity virtualization. It enables organizations to embed identity management into their business processes and centralize user access management. The SAP Identity Management component helps organizations align user lifecycle management with key business processes running in cloud and on-premise. Business managers can define role-based user access rights and implement identity management across enterprise applications while providing centralized data, alerts, and reporting. The solution supports identity management across SAP software as well as heterogeneous and hybrid landscapes, including third-party business applications, operations systems, e-mail systems, and databases.

Key capabilities include:

  • Line-of-business-driven identity management
  • Built-in connector to cloud-based Identity Provisioning service
  • Reporting and auditing functionality
  • Password management and employee self-service
  • Business-aligned user access rights, roles, and privileges

Key Considerations for SAPinsiders

Centralize identity management across applications and platforms. According to SAPinsider’s User Access and Identity Management for SAP S/4HANA benchmark report, a top goal for SAPinsider members is to centralize user access and identity management. Members are particularly worried about the proliferation of access points from the use of cloud-based apps. By centralizing identity management, SAP customers can improve security for cloud-based apps, reduce fraud, increase productivity, and speed up role setup, the report found. A centralized platform enables the organization to manage users of SAP and third-party applications in one place.

Shift identity management responsibilities from IT to lines of business. Putting password management, self-service portals, and workflow approvals in the hands of line-of-business managers improves productivity and security and reduces costs while freeing up IT to focus on more pressing issues. Business managers are also better at aligning roles and privileges with business processes rather than technical directory structures. They can quickly provision employees and business partners and make changes to access rights and privileges in a timely manner.

Integrate identity management with GRC to improve compliance with regulatory and audit requirements. In the previously cited benchmark report, SAPinsider members said that increasing government regulations were a driver for updating their organization’s identity management processes. By integrating identity management and GRC, multiple groups within the organization become involved in identity management. More departments with a stake mean that identity management gets a higher priority and more money within the organization, leading to improved processes and compliance. In addition, tighter integration enables mitigation of segregation-of-duties risks and a compliant user-provisioning process.

14 results

  1. biometrics - SAP universal ID - image

    What Is SAP Universal ID? 

    Published: 13/January/2022

    Reading time: 2 mins

    SAP Universal ID is a unified account across SAP that enables users to log on to SAP systems using one account. It links all existing SAP legacy accounts and easily allows users to switch between them.   What are the benefits of SAP Universal ID?  The benefits of SAP Universal ID include:  Users take control of…

  2. SAP Universal ID and Passwordless Logon

    SAP recently teamed with German startup Hanko to add biometrics-based passwordless security protection to its recently launched SAP Universal ID, which provides SAP users with a unified account that enables access to all SAP products and services in one place. The goal of the partnership is to increase protection against data breaches without affecting employee…

  3. SAP Works with Hanko to Develop Passwordless Logon for SAP Universal ID

    Published: 09/July/2021

    Reading time: 3 mins

    By Fred Donovan, Senior Editor, SAPinsider Enterprises face an explosion of cyberattacks and data breaches, many of them enabled by weak passwords. Once attackers compromise an employee’s account, they can gain access to sensitive corporate data as well as the internal network.  Data breaches can cost companies millions of dollars in direct and indirect costs. According to the Cost…

  4. Shift to Remote Work Underscores Need for a Robust Identity and Access Management Program

    Published: 28/May/2021

    Reading time: 2 mins

    As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, remote workforce models are likely here to stay. This shift magnifies the importance of organizations guaranteeing that only authorized individuals can access their network and data. The best way to avoid unauthorized users from entering SAP systems is through a robust and automated identity and access management (IAM)…

  5. Managing the Identity Life Cycle in Hybrid SAP Environments

    Managing the Identity Life Cycle in Hybrid SAP Environments

    Published: 21/May/2020

    Reading time: 13 mins

    This article explains how to build a security bridge between on-premise and cloud-based applications in hybrid SAP landscapes by extending on-premise user authentication and identity management into the cloud.

  6. How to Simplify Business Role Integration in SAP Identity Management and SAP Access Control

    Published: 04/February/2019

    Reading time: 8 mins

    IT organizations typically use identity management solutions to handle a large amount of personnel changes to provision and de-provision users throughout an enterprise. The process contains technical roles that manage different resources. SAP Access Control provides a business role concept that users define (i.e., users or administrators manage the roles) and use to manage a…

  7. Universal Identity and Access Management for Employees and Consumers

    Universal Identity and Access Management for Employees and Consumers

    Published: 14/January/2019

    Reading time: 15 mins

    As digital technologies have expanded their reach, the task of ensuring secure authentication and identity management within business processes has become more complex. Employees are no longer the only users involved — external users, such as consumers accessing a web shop, must also be considered. To help you navigate this new reality, this article explains…

  8. Comprehensive Identity and Access Management in the Cloud

    Comprehensive Identity and Access Management in the Cloud

    Published: 16/May/2018

    Reading time: 8 mins

    Digital technologies are transforming enterprise system landscapes, bringing with them a range of security issues businesses must address — particularly when it comes to managing user identities and access to business solutions. To address these challenges, businesses require a comprehensive, unified, centralized approach to identity management and access governance. This article introduces SAP Cloud Identity…

  9. Tips on How to Maximize Security and Productivity with SAP Single Sign-On

    Published: 18/April/2018

    Reading time: 1 mins

    In his session at the Cybersecurity for SAP Customers 2018 conference titled “Secure Authentication and Access Management with SAP Single Sign-On,” Kristian Lehment, senior product manager at SAP SE, provides an overview of the role of SAP Single Sign-On in secure authentication. He discusses the basics of the key technologies involved: Kerberos, X.509 certificates, and…

  10. Compliant Identity Management Processes Can Do More

    Published: 08/November/2017

    Reading time: 2 mins

    SAP’s solutions for identity management and governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) provide a powerful, integrated toolset for managing SAP accounts and authorizations. In some cases, however, users may have too many authorizations or licensing needs that exceed current agreements. Learn how using compliant identity management (CIM) practices in combination with SAP Identity Management and SAP…