The following Utility Voice was authored by Marc Rosson, Enterprise Architect at Snohomish County PUD.
Team,
While we’d all like to assume that our systems are safe and secure, this is not guaranteed — nor does enterprise-grade security happen by accident. It takes a village of business and IT users to remain constantly aware of who has access to our business systems and how we keep them secure, making security as seamless as possible for authorized users while keeping everyone else out.
We see news headlines every week about systems that went unpatched and therefore were exposed to exploitation. And as we move our systems to Cloud ERP, it’s vital that we all understand the shared responsibility security model that the SAP Cloud ERP security brings to the table — everything from internal staff not sharing passwords to very technical configurations that must be done by our internal utility staff as well as our SAP Cloud ERP Support Team.
Hear From the Experts
On December 15th, Erin Hughes and her team will present to our community on SAP Private Cloud security. Erin is currently the Head of Cybersecurity and Compliance Advisory for the Americas at SAP and has a team of professionals that work across industries and cloud operations to ensure compliance and help all make every day uneventful as it relates to cybersecurity.
SAP provides services and products that are automatically included as part of their cloud solutions, and it also offers additional services and products that are available for utilities which seek to enhance their security posture. Bottom line, security is a team effort, and it takes both the utility staff and SAP to make the system secure.
Please join us on this official SAP webinar—where we will talk about the solutions both included and optional—on December 15th, from 2–3 p.m. EST, either via this Teams link or by reaching out to me at Marc@utility.community for an invite.
Turn Experience Into Guidance
When we share what works and what isn’t working in our technology landscapes, we all learn together and become a stronger community. ASUG welcomes proposals for the 2026 SAP Sapphire & ASUG Annual Conference in Orlando—to be held May 11–13—with submissions open through Monday, February 2nd. If your team has a lesson others can use, we would like to hear it.
There are several ways to participate. You can tell a customer story focused on the problem, the approach, what you learned, and the outcomes. You can also host an interactive discussion where peers compare notes and solutions, or you can join SAP-led formats that help customers understand products and strategy in practical terms.
If you plan to submit, use the proposal link to create the event account and complete the required fields. You may send more than one idea before the deadline. We value the expertise you bring to this community and are eager to hear what you have to share.
To get involved and keep up with the latest, join ASUG’s Utilities Community.