Comparative Review of Segregation of Duties (SoD) Analysis Capabilities in Oracle Access Governance Cloud Service

Executive Summary

Oracle Access Governance (AG) is a cloud-based governance solution that provides oversight across cloud and on-premises environments, ensuring compliance and security. This report examines the Segregation of Duties (SoD) analysis capabilities within Oracle Access Governance Cloud Service and compares two preventive compliance mechanisms:

  1. Access Guardrails—a feature offering enterprise-wide SoD enforcement without dependency on Risk Management Cloud (RMC).
  2. Risk Management Cloud (RMC) Integration—a compliance validation method leveraging existing SoD rules within Oracle Fusion.

Both approaches have distinct advantages and limitations. Understanding these differences helps organizations determine the optimal strategy for access compliance within their governance framework.

Introduction

Oracle Access Governance (AG) is a cloud-based platform designed to manage identity compliance across various environments, including on-premises systems, Fusion applications, and third-party services. A critical aspect of access control is Segregation of Duties (SoD)—ensuring that users with specific roles do not gain conflicting permissions.

This analysis evaluates the capabilities of Access Guardrails versus Risk Management Cloud (RMC) integration for preventive SoD enforcement.

Comparison of SoD Analysis Approaches

Option 1: Preventive SoD Analysis with Access Guardrails

Oracle’s Access Guardrails enable direct SoD enforcement during access request processing. Organizations can define SoD rules within Access Bundles, ensuring compliance before access is granted.

 Advantages

  • Enterprise-wide applicability—Supports Fusion applications, third-party services and non-Fusion applications.
  • No dependency on RMC—Eliminates additional costs associated with Risk Management Cloud deployment.
  • No requirement for RMC knowledge—Enables independent management within Access Governance.
  • Native SoD evaluation—Real-time enforcement upon access request submission.

 Limitations

  • Requires deep expertise in Fusion, and 3rd Party application and services SoD definitions.
  • Organizations using RMC may face duplication of effort when managing SoD definitions.
  • Enterprise-wide SoD enforcement demands specialized administrative knowledge.
  • Increased ownership responsibility for Access Governance administrators.

Option 2: Preventive SoD Analysis with Risk Management Cloud (RMC) Integration

Oracle Access Governance provides a built-in native integration with Risk Management Cloud (RMC), enabling SoD validation through Fusion Orchestration. Access requests for Fusion entitlements are forwarded to RMC, where potential conflicts are reviewed before approval.

Advantages

  • Leverages existing RMC SoD Definitions—Ideal for organizations already utilizing RMC for compliance.
  • Seamless integration with Fusion applications—Enabled via a simple configuration toggle.
  • Standardized SoD validation using pre-defined RMC rules.

Limitations

  • Limited to Fusion environments—Does not extend compliance enforcement to third-party applications.
  • Requires expertise for setup and ongoing management of the Risk Management Cloud service
  • Evaluation delays—SoD validation depends on Risk Management Cloud processing time, impacting approval speed.

Conclusion & Recommendation

Organizations must assess their compliance needs when selecting a preventive SoD enforcement strategy:

  • For enterprises already using Risk Management Cloud: The RMC integration is recommended, as it seamlessly applies pre-existing SoD rules within Fusion environments.
  • For organizations needing broad compliance beyond Fusion: The Access Guardrails feature is the optimal solution, providing enterprise-wide enforcement without requiring RMC.

Ultimately, the choice depends on whether an organization prioritizes rapid native SoD enforcement across diverse environments or leveraging existing compliance frameworks within Fusion and RMC.

 

Further Resources