Book excerpt: This practical guide offers you a detailed introduction to all the essential aspects of SAP Authorization management, as well as the necessary organizational and technical structures and tools. Take advantage of a proven Phase Model to help you navigate through all of the stages leading up to the implementation and deployment of an authorization concept, from the procedural steps required to design the concept, to the production phase, and lastly, to the supervision phase. In addition, you'll quickly learn how to set up authorization via the SAP R/3 Profile Generator. This book provides in-depth coverage of the special security requirements of the SAP Enterprise Portal as well as the SAP R/3 standards and infrastructure, which serve as a framework to develop and support SAP Authorization concepts. Highlights include: - Special features of the SAP Authorization System - Fundamental principles of the SAP Authorization concept - Internal Control System (ICS) - Best practices for the design phase - Best practices for the production phase - Testing of Authorization concepts - Audit Information System (AIS) - SAP Enterprise Portal: components, access control and administration, integration, and more The Authors This book was written by a team of highly experienced SAP consultants from IBM Business Consulting Services GmbH. The authors have honed their expertise with many years of experience with SAP technology, especially with regard to the implementation of SAP Authorization concepts.