SAP IDM End of Life: What, When, and How to Transition

SAP has recently announced that the maintenance for SAP Identity Management (SAP IDM), their on-premises solution for managing the identity lifecycle, will cease in 2027. While an extended maintenance period will be available until 2030, businesses using this solution will have to start working on a transition plan soon. Since identity and access are the pillars on which security and compliance strategies are built, choosing the right alternative, and ensuring a smooth transition is critical for SAP IDM customers.

Understanding the Implications SAP IDM End of Life

The end of life for SAP IDM poses significant challenges for users and businesses relying on the platform. Continuing to use software beyond its end-of-life date exposes organizations to various risks:

Security Vulnerabilities: Without ongoing support and updates, SAP IDM will become vulnerable to security threats. New vulnerabilities may arise, but there won’t be any patches or fixes from the vendor to address them, leaving systems exposed to potential breaches.

Compliance Issues: Many industries have strict regulatory requirements regarding data security and access control. Meeting these compliance requirements could become difficult, leading to potential legal and financial repercussions, such as fines, legal issues, and damage to the organization’s reputation.

Operational Disruptions: SAP IDM may not function optimally with other systems or applications in the IT environment. This can lead to operational disruptions, downtime, and decreased productivity as businesses struggle to maintain system stability.

Lack of Technical Support: When issues or bugs arise, businesses may not have the same level of access to technical support as before. This means they’ll have to rely on internal resources or third-party providers for troubleshooting and problem resolution, which can be time-consuming and costly.

Difficulty in Scaling and Innovating: Continuing to use SAP IDM may limit the organization’s ability to scale its operations or adopt new technologies. Without vendor support, businesses may find it challenging to adapt the software to meet evolving needs or take advantage of emerging trends in identity management.

From Endings to New Beginnings

The end of support for SAP IDM presents a unique opportunity for organizations to reassess their identity and access management (IAM) strategies and modernize their security posture. Identities serve as the primary gateway to valuable resources within any company, and relying on an outdated and unsupported solution to secure these assets could pose significant risks in an increasingly interconnected and distributed digital landscape. Therefore, rather than viewing the end of support as a setback, businesses can embrace it as a catalyst for positive change and innovation.

The transition away from SAP IDM allows organizations to evaluate their IAM needs comprehensively and align them with contemporary security practices. By engaging stakeholders from across the organization to clarify business and application requirements, companies can select a new IAM solution that better suits their needs.

Moreover, migrating to a new IAM solution opens doors to a host of new opportunities and capabilities. Organizations can leverage cross-application connectivity offered by modern identity and access risk governance solutions to centralize access management and achieve seamless integration with modern IT environments.

Additionally, new functionalities such as attribute-based access controls, and dynamic data masking capabilities can simultaneously enhance security and user experience. Furthermore, strict management of elevated and sensitive access, becomes simpler with a modern solution, reducing the risk of insider threats and unauthorized access.

Partnering with Pathlock to Future-Proof Your Business

Transitioning to a new identity management solution after the end of support for SAP IDM requires careful planning and execution. The transition to a new solution will impact the entire enterprise, including IT, business, and audit teams. Pathlock’s Advisory and CISA teams help customers with successful transitions from establishing a detailed plan of action for functionality replacement and enhancements, to identifying implementation approaches internally, with partners and with Pathlock resources to ensure smooth implementation. Here are some next steps that Pathlock assists organizations with:

Assessment of Current State: Evaluation of the current state of your identity management system, including the use case functionalities, integrations, and dependencies. We then understand the specific features and capabilities that are critical to your organization’s operations.

Identification of Requirements: We help define your business and technical requirements for the new identity management solution. We consider factors such as scalability, flexibility, compliance needs, and budget constraints. Our team will also engage stakeholders from different departments to gather comprehensive requirements.

Build the Pathlock Business Case: We schedule demonstrations, build a proposal and executive summary materials, and provide insights into the Pathlock’s capabilities and customer satisfaction levels from existing customers.

Migration Planning: Our team develops a comprehensive migration plan that outlines the steps, timeline, resources, and responsibilities involved in transitioning to the new solution. We consider factors such as data migration, user training, and change management to minimize disruptions during the transition.

Each of the steps mentioned above requires significant time and effort. Identity and access are at the core of security and compliance. Errors in configurations, improper access entitlements, and gaps in visibility of access usage could lead to serious compliance violations. Having a trusted vendor partner like Pathlock to help you start early, build a plan, and successfully execute it is key to a successful migration.

Conclusion

While the end of support for SAP IDM presents certain challenges, it also offers a strategic opportunity for organizations to modernize their infrastructure, strengthen security measures, and embrace new capabilities that drive business growth and success. Reach out to Pathlock today to find out how other organizations are seizing this opportunity and implementing a well-planned transition strategy and emerging stronger and more secure in the digital age.