The European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) becomes effective on 25 May 2018. In this article, I’ll explore the impacts on SAP SuccessFactors Reporting and Analytics Tools and what moves you should make.

What is GDPR?

Simply put, GDPR requires businesses to protect the personal data and privacy of EU citizens.

The focus of this article is narrowly focused on SAP SuccessFactors Reporting Tools, but if your company does business in the EU, this should be a part of a larger conversation around GDPR in your organization.

What SAP SuccessFactors Reporting and Analytics Tools Support GDPR?

The good news is that the SAP SuccessFactors Reporting and Analytics tools that DO support GDPR are very likely the tools that you primarily use today.

The following SAP SuccessFactors Reporting and Analytics tools support GDPR:

  • AdHoc-based Reporting Tools, including Report – Table, Report – Custom (AdHoc BIRT/XLSM), Report – Canvas (ORD) Live Data, Detailed Reporting, Tiles and Dashboards 2.0
  • Advanced Reporting, including Canvas (ORD) – Advanced Reporting
  • Workforce Analytics & Workforce Planning

Note: One important additional requirement for GDPR compliance enablement in SAP SuccessFactors is to enable Role Based Permissions (RBP).

What about Classic Reporting Tools?

It is time to have a plan to move forward beyond the Classic Reporting Tools.

Legacy “Classic” Reporting Tools include the following

  • List Views
  • Spotlight Views
  • Spreadsheet Reports
  • Classic Reporting
  • Dashboards 1.0
  • Detailed Document Search

It has likely been some time since you’ve used these tools, but if you’ve had SAP SuccessFactors implemented for more than a couple of years, it is also likely that they are still turned on.

These legacy Classic Reporting tools do NOT support GDPR, and I recommend to turn these tools off.

Even if your company is not impacted by GDPR, while these legacy tools may remain functional, they are no longer supported by SAP. Therefore it is a good idea to have a plan to move forward beyond the Classic Reporting Tools.

What if some of my users still use Classic Reporting Tools?

SAP SuccessFactors has delivered next-generation Reporting Tools

SAP SuccessFactors has delivered next-generation Reporting Tools that well exceed the functionality and usability of the Classic Reporting Tools. So for example, if you need to replace the List Reports, you can use ORD/Detailed Reporting or AdHoc; if you need to replace dashboards using Dashboards 1.0, you can use Tiles and Dashboards 2.0, etc.

How do I turn off Classic Reporting Tools?

To turn off Classic Reporting Tools, contact SAP Support or your SAP SuccessFactors Support Partner. They can disable these tools in provisioning.

Conclusion

If GDPR impacts your organization, a holistic approach to GDPR compliance is needed. Make sure your SAP SuccessFactors Reporting Tools are part of that analysis.