SAP RISE Security: The Shared Responsibility Map

Why a shared responsibility map matters

RISE with SAP customers often assume that SAP holds the full security responsibility under the hosted service. The assumption is incorrect and produces audit findings when the external assessor asks who owns identity, who owns authorization, who patches custom code, and who configures the business rules. The shared responsibility map documents who owns which control. The map is a contractual reference and an operational tool. Without the map, the customer team and the SAP RISE team operate against conflicting assumptions and the assessor finds gaps in the control coverage. Reference the security audit pillar, cloud connector analysis, and the S/4HANA expertise.

What SAP owns under RISE

SAP owns the underlying infrastructure security, the operating system patch cadence, the database engine patches, the network perimeter controls, the physical data center controls, and the hypervisor isolation. SAP also owns the standard SAP product security patches at the application server layer once the customer schedules the maintenance window. The SAP owned scope produces the SOC reports and the cloud certifications that the customer cites in their own external assessment. The customer team reviews the SAP issued SOC report and confirms the scope and the period coverage against the customer fiscal year. Reference the security notes and patches analysis, basis security analysis, and the HANA security analysis.

What the customer retains under RISE

The customer retains identity, authorization, business configuration, custom code, integration security, and data classification. Identity covers user provisioning, multi factor enrollment, and session policy. Authorization covers role design, SoD rules, and access certification. Business configuration covers tolerance settings, approval thresholds, and release strategies. Custom code covers ABAP extensions, Fiori applications, and BTP services that the customer builds. Integration security covers the cloud connector configuration, the EDI partner setup, and the API gateway. Data classification covers what data flows where and which control class protects each. Reference the role design analysis, ABAP security analysis, and the BTP security analysis.

Customer programs that publish a signed shared responsibility map and a customer retained control inventory at the start of RISE adoption avoid 80 percent of the assessment findings that surface in the second year when the assumption gap finally crystallizes into a written external observation.

The operational interface with the RISE team

The operational interface defines how the customer team and the RISE team exchange information. The patch window scheduling, the security incident reporting, the change request submission, the access provisioning, and the data export request all follow documented interfaces. The customer security team needs read access to the SAP RISE service catalog and the patch calendar. The RISE team needs the customer escalation contacts and the production change calendar. The interface documentation produces the operating cadence that closes the assumption gap and gives the external assessor a clear control trail. Reference the incident response analysis, change management analysis, and the firefighter ID analysis.

The defensible RISE security program

The defensible RISE security program has five components. The shared responsibility map signed by both parties. The customer retained control library covering identity, authorization, configuration, custom code, and integration. The operational interface documentation covering patch, incident, change, and access workflows. The continuous monitoring that watches the customer retained scope and consumes the RISE service health feed. The annual review that updates the responsibility map as the RISE service catalog changes. The five components produce the RISE security posture that closes the assumption gap and supports the external assessment. Reference the license audit pillar (cross cluster reference), compliance framework pillar (cross cluster), and the RISE contract analysis.

For the broader context, our license audit complete guide (cross cluster reference) and compliance framework pillar document the response posture and the regulatory map that govern SAP risk. The GRC and security expertise page documents the senior advisor methodology, and the security hardening expertise page documents the technical control library. Confidential consultation is available through the contact form.