Avantra secures SAP operations across five practitioner-level control areas: patch and HotNews monitoring, configuration drift detection, backup and restore, segregation of duties, and user deprovisioning. Each maps directly to a SOX IT general control objective, which is detailed in the table below.
Enterprises use SAP well beyond simple back-office accounting. Today’s SAP systems are highly integrated and used by thousands of people daily across dozens of departments — and that’s just for a single large enterprise. As a central part of business operations, getting SAP security right, with durable operations behind it, is an essential responsibility for IT and Basis teams.
“Security” covers a huge range of topics in IT operations, and we don’t claim to address them all here. But Avantra does five critical things to make SAP and SAP operations more secure — things that are often missed by tools not built specifically for SAP, and that well-run SAP shops monitor carefully.
1. SAP Notes, HotNews & Patches
Systems with documented vulnerabilities are easy targets. But managing updates is a daunting task: different deployed SAP versions and architectures determine which notes apply, and applying them correctly often means a mix of automated steps and manual follow-up in transactions like SNOTE (note implementation), SPAM (Support Package Manager), and SAINT (Add-On Installation Tool).
Before Avantra: A Basis team typically discovers a new SAP Security Note through the SAP Support Portal or a mailing list, then has to manually check applicability against each system’s software component versions and kernel patch level — often by opening SNOTE on every instance in the landscape one at a time. In a landscape of 40+ systems, cross-checking a single HotNews item can take a full day, and it’s common for a note to go unapplied on a lower-priority QA or sandbox system for months.
After Avantra: Avantra continuously monitors SAP releases for HotNews and Security Notes, and automatically identifies which notes apply to which systems based on actual installed components — producing a real-time report of applicable notes, already-deployed notes, and any manual steps still required. The same automation extends to SPAM/SAINT patch queue preparation, which is especially useful heading into a support package upgrade cycle.
2. Configuration Drift
Configurations change over time for a lot of reasons: routine maintenance, a backup restored from an older configuration state, a rushed emergency fix, or, occasionally, a bad actor. Left unmonitored, drift accumulates quietly at the OS, SAP kernel, and application layers — in profile parameters typically reviewed in RZ10/RZ11, client settings in SCC4, or authorization object defaults maintained through SU24/SU25.
Before Avantra: A team relies on periodic manual spot-checks — someone opens RZ11 to eyeball a handful of profile parameters, or reviews SCC4 client settings during a scheduled audit prep. Drift that happens between those checks (a parameter changed during an emergency fix, a client setting flipped during a refresh) can sit undetected for an entire audit cycle.
After Avantra: Avantra automatically detects configuration changes at the OS, SAP kernel, and application layers — and in many cases corrects them automatically. An extensive library of checks spans the OS and database level, ABAP and Java core services, and up through application-level settings including certificates. Avantra combines best-practice checks with customer-specific configuration to monitor the estate on a regular, automated cadence, flagging and reporting changes as they happen rather than at the next scheduled review.
3. Backup and Restore
Everyone backs up their core SAP systems and database — but for customers running 24/7 operations, backup is far from trivial. It means orchestrating system online/offline states, stopping and starting SAP services in the right order, and coordinating tools like DB13/DB13C (backup scheduling) on the SAP side and the appropriate native database backup utility (e.g., BRBACKUP/BRARCHIVE on Oracle, HANA’s backup catalog/HDBBACKUP, or the equivalent for DB2 and SQL Server), then verifying the jobs actually completed cleanly in SM37.
Before Avantra: Backup jobs are scheduled through DB13C (regardless of underlying database) and monitored reactively — a failed job is often caught the next morning in SM37 rather than the moment it happens, and there’s no client-specific backup and restore for the SAP operations solution itself. That’s a real gap for large customers relying on Cloud ALM, which lacks client-specific backup, leaving an unintended configuration change with no easy path back.
After Avantra: Avantra automates bringing systems on- and offline, starting and stopping SAP services, and orchestrating the SAP backup process end to end. It also supports backup and recovery of the Avantra platform itself on a client-specific basis — a policy-based approach that scales to hundreds of servers and thousands of individual monitors and checks, whether systems run in the cloud, at hyperscalers, or on-prem.
4. Segregation of Duties
Segregation of duties (SoD) is a foundational SAP security control, and Avantra supports it in two directions.
Before Avantra: SoD conflicts are typically caught during periodic access reviews — someone runs SUIM reports or works through PFCG role assignments looking for combinations like a user holding both invoice-entry and payment-release authorizations, or worse, broad access via SAP_ALL. Between reviews, a role change or emergency access grant can introduce a conflict that goes unnoticed until the next audit.
After Avantra:
Avantra itself is designed around a role-based security model: individual users are provisioned with visibility and authorizations specific to their role in SAP operations, so access to Avantra is governed by policy and correct authorization, not ad hoc grants.
Avantra monitoring of SAP continuously checks for users with too many or the wrong combination of permissions — flagging SAP_ALL assignments and business-rule violations such as a user holding authorization A who must not also hold B or C — rather than waiting for the next manual SUIM sweep.
5. Removing Old Users Across the SAP Estate
Good SAP operations hygiene means keeping user authorizations current — dormant accounts and stale role assignments are a common finding in every SAP security audit.
Before Avantra: Identifying dormant or over-privileged accounts means running reports like RSUSR200 (users by logon date) or working through SUIM system by system, then manually cross-referencing which accounts still have client access across the estate. In a multi-system landscape, this is a recurring, time-consuming manual exercise that tends to get compressed right before an audit.
After Avantra: Avantra User Profile automation continuously reports on profiles with access to managed SAP systems, monitoring role assignments and client access across the estate. That makes it straightforward to identify systems with lingering accounts or other user-profile security exposures — and to automate the cleanup — instead of reconstructing the picture manually every audit cycle.
SOX Control-Objective Mapping
For teams supporting SOX IT general controls (ITGC) testing, here’s how each Avantra capability maps to the standard control domains auditors test against:
| Avantra Capability | SOX ITGC Domain | Control Objective Supported |
|---|---|---|
| SAP Notes, HotNews & Patches | Program Change Control | Changes (including security patches) are identified, evaluated for applicability, and applied through a controlled, auditable process |
| Configuration Drift Detection | Program Change Control / Change Management | Unauthorized or undocumented changes to system, application, and security configurations are detected and remediated |
| Backup and Restore | Computer Operations | Data and systems are recoverable; job scheduling and completion are monitored and evidenced |
| Segregation of Duties | Access to Programs and Data | Incompatible authorization combinations are prevented or detected, supporting SoD control objectives |
| Removing Old Users Across the SAP Estate | Access to Programs and Data | Logical access is restricted to authorized, active users; terminated or stale accounts are identified and removed timely |
This mapping is a starting point for internal control narratives and walkthroughs — your external auditor’s specific control matrix and testing approach will determine exact wording and evidence requirements.
FAQ
Does Avantra detect unauthorized SAP user access?
Yes. Avantra continuously monitors user profiles and authorization assignments across the SAP estate, flagging accounts with excessive access (such as SAP_ALL), authorization combinations that violate segregation-of-duties rules, and dormant or stale accounts that still retain system access. Rather than waiting for a periodic SUIM-based review, these checks run on an ongoing basis so unauthorized or inappropriate access is surfaced as it appears.
How does config drift detection work?
Avantra establishes expected configuration states across the OS, SAP kernel, and application layers, then continuously compares the live environment against that baseline using a library of best-practice and customer-specific checks — covering everything from OS and database settings to ABAP and Java core services, certificates, and application-level parameters. When a deviation is detected, Avantra reports it, and in many cases can automatically correct it back to the expected state, without waiting for the next manual audit or spot-check.
Tight and Tidy
Good SAP operations are an exercise in consistent discipline. Avantra helps by automating the common tasks above, ensuring compliance across every system in the estate — saving hundreds or thousands of engineer-hours annually in larger landscapes, while increasing the reliability and security of everyday SAP operations.
To learn more about Avantra SAP security, system checks, and automation, speak with one of our experts to find out how we can help make your SAP landscape more secure.
Related reading: SAP Basis Automation: A Practitioner’s Guide to 5 Scenarios and ROI — covers the automation side of patching, refresh, and job monitoring, plus how the resulting audit trail supports SOX and ISO 27001 evidence gathering.