Security moving from database systems to ERP systems

Usage of Information Systems moves from a central database system with many application programs to fully integrated systems with which an enterprise is handling many of its information and communication problems (ERP). In this paper we study how these systems deal with the security issue; we see that on the one hand by moving the security from the database level to the ERP level, advantages by having centrally defined and maintained security rules get lost, on the other hand it is possible to exploit WorkFlow Management (WFM) techniques to define security procedures more properly, such that the "separation of duty" principle can be applied. We demonstrate this on the tricky security rules for the security employees themselves.