Getting Started with Administration

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to maintain super admin, security admin, and module admins.

Administrators

SAP SuccessFactors offers different levels of administration to manage the amount of control each user has in the system. There are three basic levels of system administration:

  • Super Administrator

    The Super Administrator is created initially in Provisioning. This administrator grants permission to others so that they can become a Super Administrator or Security Administrator.

  • Security Administrator

    The Security Administrator is responsible for managing all security through roles and permission groups in the Role-Based Permission framework.

  • Administrator

    An administrator is a user who has access to the Admin Center page in SAP SuccessFactors, granted by the Security Admin, that granted administrative permissions to this user.

When the Super Administrator logs in for the first time, only one link on theAdmin Center page is visible. This is Manage Super Admin Access. Choose this tool to assign an employee the permission to function as a Security Administrator.

Set User Permissions screen with Manage Super Admin Access highlighted.

Super Admin Access Management

Manage Super Admin Access screen listing the Super Admins in two categories.

The page displays a list of Super Administrators in two categories based on their permission levels:

  • Super admins: a broad-scope administrative role with permission to access the tool Manage Super Admin Access, Manage RBP Admin Access, User Search, and Manage Provisioning Access
  • Admin overseers: a high-privilege oversight role with permission to access the tool Manage Super Admin Access, Manage RBP Admin Access, and User Search.

You can add, modify, or remove super admin access as needed in this tool. The system prevents deleting yourself as a super admin. We recommend revoking super admin permissions when an employee terminates their employment or leaves the company. You can access audit logs for super admin and admin overseer data through the Viewer for SAP Audit Log service and Audit Log Search API.

RBP Admin Access Management

Manage RBP Admin Access screen showing the RBP Admin Users.

Use the Manage RBP Admin Access tool to:

  • Add, update, and remove RBP admins.
  • Grant View Role, View Group, Edit Role, Edit Group, and Notify this user of RBP Changes access to the RBP admins.
  • Configure notification settings for RBP admins using the RBP Notification Settings capability.

To access the tools Manage Permission Groups, Manage Permission Roles, and RBP Troubleshooting, users must at least be granted the permissions View Group and View Role from the tool Manage RBP Admin Access. If they also should be able to change Permission Groups and Permission Roles, users must be granted the permissions Edit Group and Edit Role from the feature Manage RBP Admin Access.

For permission role changes that impact many access users, you can enable double-confirmation popups and e-mail notifications for administrators. You can also set a threshold for triggering these notifications. For example, you can set the threshold to 80%, and notifications will be triggered if 80% or more employees are impacted by a permission role change.

Manage RBP Admin Access with RBP Notifications Settings pop-up

SAP SuccessFactors Common Terms

TermsDefinitions
InstanceAn instance is the front end, or customer-facing view, of SAP SuccessFactors systems.
ProvisioningProvisioning is the key configuration tool that SAP SuccessFactors uses to control many aspects of a customer instance. In essence, Provisioning is the back end of the system. Customers do not have access to Provisioning.
Admin CenterAdmin Center is the central access point to a wide range of administrative features and tools that can be used to configure and maintain the SuccessFactors application. Admin Center can be used to monitor overall system health, manage cross-suite and third-party integrations. Unlike Provisioning, customers do have access to Admin Center.
Role Based Permission (RBP)Role Based Permissions (RBP) are used to manage users’ permissions in SAP SuccessFactors. The two main components of RBP are permission roles and permission groups. Roles contain the various permissions necessary to perform tasks in an instance. Groups, which can be static or dynamic, contain the actual users who are granted access to roles via group membership.
ProxyThe proxy function allows one employee to act on behalf of another.
Home PageThe Home Page is the default starting page of the SAP SuccessFactors HCM Suite. For employees, the Home Page is the main entry point to the SAP SuccessFactors application and is generally the first page they see after logging into the system. It shows pending tasks, highlights recent activities, and helps users access common functions or areas of an instance quickly.
Org ChartThe Org Chart provides an interactive view of the organizational hierarchy and reporting relationships, including matrix managers, for your users.
PicklistA picklist is a configurable set of options from which a user can select, typically in a dropdown menu or smart search list.
Metadata Framework (MDF)The Meta Data Framework (MDF) is a platform functionality that allows consultants and customers to extend existing SuccessFactors HCM suite capabilities. The main building blocks of these extensions are called Generic Objects (GO).
User Data File (UDF)The UDF is a comma-separated value (.csv) file and is used to add or change data for one or more employees’ records at a time. It is created manually or as an automated output from your Human Resources Information System (HRIS).

Grant Permission to Super Admin Access

Business Example

Your customer wants to start with Role Based Permissions (RBP) and needs access to the tools so they can manage Role Based Permission access.

Task 1: Grant Permission to Super Admin Access

Your company has enabled RBP for their instance of SAP SuccessFactors. Access to manage RBP must be granted to the company administrators.

You must search for the user admin and grant them access to manage RBP.

Steps

  1. Find the administrator2025 user.

    1. Log into the instance.

    2. Use the Action Search to navigate to Manage Super Admin Access.

    3. On the Manage Super Admin Access screen, verify that you see the user administrator2025 that you created from Provisioning. Otherwise, choose Add User.

  2. Grant RBP to administrator2025.

    1. Make sure that the administrator2025 can Manage RBP Admin and Super Admin Access

Result

You have successfully searched for your admin user and granted them access to manage Role Based Permissions.

Lesson Summary

  • Understand roles, responsibilities, and access levels of Super Admin, Security Admin, and regular administrators in SAP SuccessFactors.
  • Learn how to manage Role-Based Permissions (RBP) through Admin Center, including creating and editing groups and roles.
  • Define and apply common SAP SuccessFactors terms like Provisioning, Admin Center, RBP, Proxy, and User Data File (UDF).
  • Explore security precautions and notification settings for permission role changes influencing user access.
  • Gain knowledge of system administrator tasks, including managing user data, permissions, notifications, and support functions.