SAP GRC

SAP governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) is a comprehensive suite of cohesive and modular solutions designed to help companies implement an integrated framework to align objectives, manage risks, and ensure adherence to regulations and internal policies. SAP Governance, Risk, and Compliance is a robust suite of solutions designed to enable organizations to manage their enterprise resources effectively, including modules such as SAP Access Control, SAP Process Control, SAP Risk Management, Audit Management, Fraud Management, and Global Trade Services (GTS).

SAP GRC has its origins in the early 2000s when SAP recognized the growing need for governance and compliance solutions. The Application Release Automation (ARA) module was the first module created for SAP's GRC suite, setting the stage for what would become a comprehensive platform for software development, coding, testing, deployment, and security. Before SAP created its own GRC management solution, key stakeholders discovered that existing SAP clients were buying a third-party application called Versa to handle their compliance and policy management needs. Versa was initially created by two developers working as independent contractors for larger enterprise organizations.

SAP's GRC solutions are organized around four strategic pillars: Enterprise risk and compliance, identity and access governance, cybersecurity and data protection, and international trade management. The solutions are comprehensive and modular, integrated with SAP S/4HANA and available across all deployment models: on-premises, cloud, and hybrid.

In 2024-2025, SAP announced SAP GRC for HANA 2026 as the next generation of its GRC solution, built exclusively on SAP S/4HANA Foundation and SAP HANA. This represents a significant evolution, consolidating core modules into a unified, AI-powered platform with Fiori-based user experience, embedded AI and automation powered by SAP Joule, and support guaranteed through 2040. Today, SAP GRC serves 3,706 companies globally, primarily large enterprises with over 10,000 employees and $1 billion+ in revenue.