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BASIS to GRC

Former Member
0 Kudos

Hi,

I have 2 and 1/2 years experience in BASIS and 4 years experience overall.

I am thinking about a switch into SAP GRC.

Would that be a good move? What is the scope of SAP GRC in consulting/support projects?

How would I go about making such a switch?

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Former Member
0 Kudos

The bulk of GRC work is actually security work. Having said that, someone does have to install GRC, but that's not a full time gig. That would just be a normal part of a typical basis person's responsibilities, not a specialty. If you're wanting to *specialize* in GRC, then you're talking about learning a specialized security skill set including interviewing users to define roles in the organization, defining segregation of duties, defining profiles, defining workflow for authorization approval, etc.

Whether or not it's a good move is subjective. If you really enjoy security work, then specializing in GRC is a good move because doing what you love is important. As with any speciality, there are fewer openings for specialists than for generalists. Specialists get paid more than generalists, but run the risk of running into a patch with no work. If you are passionate and become well known for your specialist abilities, then you probably won't have dry spells. If you're chasing a paycheck and doing the minimum to get by, then you'll have extended dry spells that will cause your net income to decrease as compared to an average generalist.

If you're not sure whether or not you like security work, then I would recommend that you switch to generic SAP ECC security first. Almost every SAP customer needs SAP ECC security while only a smaller subset need SAP GRC. You should be able to get a job doing basic SAP ECC security with your SAP Basis background. Once you get the gig, the security tasks on an SAP ECC implementt and an SAP GRC implementation are much the same. The skills you learn in SAP ECC Security will directly transfer to SAP GRC work. This means that you can "dip your toe in the water" before committing 100% to that path. If it turns out you don't like security work, you can easily go back to generic Basis work. If you do like security work, then you can take increasingly specialized SAP ECC security gigs while learning/working up to SAP GRC.

Hope this helps!

Best regards,

  --Tom

3 REPLIES 3

Former Member
0 Kudos

The bulk of GRC work is actually security work. Having said that, someone does have to install GRC, but that's not a full time gig. That would just be a normal part of a typical basis person's responsibilities, not a specialty. If you're wanting to *specialize* in GRC, then you're talking about learning a specialized security skill set including interviewing users to define roles in the organization, defining segregation of duties, defining profiles, defining workflow for authorization approval, etc.

Whether or not it's a good move is subjective. If you really enjoy security work, then specializing in GRC is a good move because doing what you love is important. As with any speciality, there are fewer openings for specialists than for generalists. Specialists get paid more than generalists, but run the risk of running into a patch with no work. If you are passionate and become well known for your specialist abilities, then you probably won't have dry spells. If you're chasing a paycheck and doing the minimum to get by, then you'll have extended dry spells that will cause your net income to decrease as compared to an average generalist.

If you're not sure whether or not you like security work, then I would recommend that you switch to generic SAP ECC security first. Almost every SAP customer needs SAP ECC security while only a smaller subset need SAP GRC. You should be able to get a job doing basic SAP ECC security with your SAP Basis background. Once you get the gig, the security tasks on an SAP ECC implementt and an SAP GRC implementation are much the same. The skills you learn in SAP ECC Security will directly transfer to SAP GRC work. This means that you can "dip your toe in the water" before committing 100% to that path. If it turns out you don't like security work, you can easily go back to generic Basis work. If you do like security work, then you can take increasingly specialized SAP ECC security gigs while learning/working up to SAP GRC.

Hope this helps!

Best regards,

  --Tom

0 Kudos

Tom, you rulez!

Nothing more to say.

Regards,

Osvaldo

Former Member
0 Kudos

Hi Tom,

Thanks for your helpful advice.

Regards,

Siddhartha