Transform Periodic Access Review Oracle ERP Cloud
Transform Periodic Access Review for
Oracle ERP Cloud - Case Study
Company type: Public
Industry: Fast food restaurants
Primary ERP system: Oracle ERP Cloud
The organization is a well-known fast-food corporation that operates globally, with over 50,000 ERP users worldwide and a complicated network of applications, including Oracle ERP Cloud. The organization was facing significant challenges in managing Periodic Access Reviews (PARs) for Oracle ERP Cloud. These challenges stemmed from a complex organizational structure with diverse access requirements and a lack of automation, resulting in significant manual work, compliance issues, and difficulties in providing complete and accurate audit evidence for these access reviews.
The organization automated their PAR processes utilizing SafePaaS, focusing on their Oracle ERP Cloud system. They achieved significant benefits by leveraging SafePaaS functionalities that integrated with their existing systems, such as Microsoft Entra ID, formerly known as Microsoft Azure Active Directory, ServiceNow, and their legacy Identity Security tool.
The Challenges:
- Lack of fine-grained visibility and control over periodic access review processes.
- Reliance on manual spreadsheet-based processes leading to data accuracy concerns.
- Difficulty in re-performing controls, impacting audit compliance.
- Elevated risk due to multiple technologies and integration complexities.
- Changes in security models and access control mechanisms in the cloud environment.
- Auditors requiring fine-grained user access review visibility.
The Solution:
The organization used SafePaaS to transform its PAR processes, particularly for its Oracle ERP Cloud system. Leveraging advanced functionalities, the customer automated and streamlined the PAR processes, enhancing compliance and reducing manual effort. Integrating with existing systems such as Active Directory, Azure, and ServiceNow, a capability offered by SafePaaS, the customer was able to utilize the access review workflow for automated ticket generation and tracking, with audit analytics capabilities for real-time monitoring. This helped the organization transform its periodic access review process with a focus on its ERP system, provide detailed audit evidence for ERP system access during audits, and implement a certification solution that complements their existing identity governance and administration (IGA) tool - a leader in the identity security space.
The key components of the solution included:
- Integration with various systems such as Oracle Cloud ERP, Active Directory, Azure, and ServiceNow.,
- Self-service periodic access review workflows to reduce manual intervention.
- Automated ticket generation and tracking for access requests and terminations.
- Audit analytics capabilities for real-time monitoring and verification of access changes.
- Tailoring of service account roles to minimize security risks and ensure compliance.
- Fine-grained capabilities to satisfy external auditors.
Benefits and Outcomes
Customer Success
The organization achieved significant advantages and results by utilizing SafePaaS. Here is how they did it:
1. Enhanced Periodic Access Reviews: The organization identified challenges in the existing periodic access review process including manual, inefficient processes and difficulties in providing complete and accurate audit evidence. The enhanced periodic access reviews helped the customer ensure that users had the appropriate level of access to resources.
2. Detailed Audit Evidence: The organization used SafePaaS to integrate with ServiceNow for automated periodic access reviews, reducing manual efforts. Automatic ticket creation in ServiceNow streamlined the identification and resolution of access gaps. Reconciliation reports provided transparent tracking of ticket status, offering detailed audit evidence.
3. Timely Risk Remediation: Implementing faster access revocation mechanisms allowed the organization to promptly deactivate access for individuals who no longer required it, thereby reducing the window of opportunity for unauthorized access and potential security breaches. This enhancement bolstered the organization's security posture and compliance efforts by ensuring that access privileges were promptly adjusted in accordance with changes in roles or employment status.
4. Operational Efficiency: The organization significantly reduced manual effort for periodic access reviews, resulting in substantial operational cost savings. They also used SafePaaS to improve ticket creation and tracking, ensuring timely remediations of corrective actions issued by the reviewers.
5. Audit Preparedness: The organization was able to provide detailed and auditable evidence for ERP system access during audits, which helped the organization meet the stringent requirements of external auditors. The automated and transparent Periodic Access Review processes helped to reduce audit-related expenditures.
Lessons Learned
Integrating specialized, access governance tools is not only beneficial for enhancing security measures, but it also fosters several other advantages. When teams work in isolated silos, they develop their own methods for managing access data, leading to disjointed processes. Aligning these disparate processes requires extensive communication efforts. However, integrating these processes in a policy-based hub results in a more unified and cohesive organization in the grand scheme.
The organization was able to rebuild their periodic access review processes and address important concerns related to user access and audit readiness, thanks to SafePaaS's platform. By providing an integrated and embedded solution, SafePaaS helped the organization improve operational efficiency and facilitate smoother communication among teams. Consequently, the organization is now better prepared for audits and can demonstrate a commitment to robust access review practices.