In today's fast-paced business environment, keeping operations under control without constant human oversight is a challenge. Continuous Control Monitoring (CCM) addresses this by actively monitoring system data in real-time to ensure effective operation.
SAP Process Control offers two types of automated control that can be monitored continuously:
- Semi Automated Control: This setup combines automated steps within the process, but also requires human interventions. It allows users to review the automated control execution to avoid false positive or to support the control performer with the execution of the control.
- Automated Control: This type of control in SAP Process Control continuously watches over business processes using predefined rules. It swiftly detects any deviations or anomalies, automating the alert generation and exception management process. This reduces the need for manual intervention and ensures that operations comply with regulations.
In essence, CCM in SAP Process Control enhances operational efficiency by automating monitoring tasks and ensuring timely compliance with rules and standards.
Let's delve into the automated control execution and testing workflow, as well as continuous monitoring:
- Define data sources and business rules: To monitor any system the entire IT landscape, SAP Process Control first has to be able to extract data from it. SAP Process Control must know the location of the system, how to reach it (the communication protocol), how to authenticate itself to the remote system (login credentials) or where in the system the data of interest resides. Monitored systems are back-end applications such as SAP ERP, CRM, etc. SAP Process Control can be and is successfully used to monitor a wide selection of SAP & non-SAP back-end applications. Data sources are Process Control abstractions which connect to specific queries and programs in monitored systems. Data source definitions can be configured to connect to multiple systems, although each actual invocation of a data source must be configured against only one specific system. There are nine different types of sub scenarios which have dedicated data sources supported in SAP Process Control.
- Map to controls: Business rules encode the actual monitoring logic the rule designer wants. A business rule is designed to work against one data source (although one data source can serve more than one business rule). That's because the rule engine (in which rule designers express their monitoring intent) needs to know which fields are available for building the rule, and that depends on the data source being used. SAP Process Control offers a out of the box monitoring rule content, which include 55 business rules.
- Trigger: After successfully setting up the data source and the business rules, the controls need to be triggered. To trigger the automated execution & testing SAP provides the Automated Monitoring app. This app is similar to the planner app, but can only be used for automated workflows like automated control execution & testing. This workflow can be setup to run at different intervals, whether on an hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis. For scenarios where immediate testing is required, the Ad-Hoc Query function can be used. This feature allows users to execute specific controls and obtain results instantly, providing quick insights into the control environment.
- Analyze and report: After running successfully the results can be monitored via dashboards and reports.
This structured approach to automated control execution, testing, and continuous monitoring in SAP Process Control enhances operational efficiency, minimizes manual effort, and reinforces regulatory compliance across diverse IT landscapes.
Let's see how Ian utilizes the Ad-Hoc Query in the automated control to obtain immediate results.
Demonstration: Monitor Automated Controls
As CRG International Inc. aims to boost their sales, they allow customers to make purchases without immediate payment, which can attract more business and increase sales volume. To facilitate this, the company has decided to grant customers a credit limit of 10,000 EUR.
Ian has noticed changes to some credit limits this year and wants to investigate further.
Using the Business Rules application, Ian selects the "Changes to credit limit of customer" automated control. By utilizing the Ad-Hoc Query feature, Ian specifies the time period of the report (year 2024) and sets parameters to display any changes in credit limits for all customers. Upon running the report, Ian notes the affected customers and the dates of their credit limit adjustments.
Ian plans to discuss these changes with the credit department to ensure compliance with company policies and procedures. He aims to understand the reasons behind the adjustments and verify that they align with the company's credit management guidelines.