Frustrated. Need Advice on SAP Security Implementation!!!

Question

I'm very frustrated with my latest project and I would really appreciate your feedback.
I recently joined a company that's implementing SAP. They are already in the realization phase and will soon enter the final preparation stage. I was brought in to implement SAP Security. I was provided with a  compiled list of roles and tcodes based on the blueprints from the teams and this was my starting point.
I wanted to do a presentation with the teams so that we all know what my expectations/requirements are from them and vice versa. In preparation for this, I gathered their processes from their blueprints. I wanted them to break each processes into detailed activities/tasks/functions. From there, they can identify the tcodes and then the roles. I also wanted to do this approach because the company is following SOX regulations. I showed this to my team lead and the PM and the PM adviced me not to go with this strategy because there would be too much work involved. I wanted this approach because I also wanted to do the SOD but I was told not to do it because it would only confused them. He just wanted to work on polishing the list of roles and tcodes.
Some teams leads are all experienced people while other teams are not because they are working with an employee from the company. Kinda like a partnership, 1 is a consultant while the other is a team lead from the company. Which I believe is normal practice so that there is knowledge transfer.
So I had my presentation and I found out that most of the team leads have not seen this compilation of roles and tcodes. I also found out that even though they are already in the realization stage, majority of the teams have no idea what roles to give nor do they know who to give it to. I also asked for the org chart from the HR team but I was told that they still don't have it and cannot give it to me. They even asked me why I need it. They also informed me that HR structural authorizations are not going to be implemented and yet nobody can give me a damn good reason why. All they tell me is that because they don't need it.
So as you can see, I'm not getting the cooperation/support I need to be able to do my job properly. How can I when every strategy I wanted to do is being turned down? What should I do? Really need your advice on how to proceed. Your inputs are highly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Julius, Auke and Alex,
Im sure everyone would agree that the advice you guys offer is more than valuable. Thank you for that.
I myself have been encountering the same situation that Litz is facing except for that in my case the Management is very co-operative (and trust me, this helps a lot). My problem is that neither me nor my Management know what access  needs to be given to Consultants or IT Staff after GoLive or even now.The Functional Consultants "don't have the time" to tell me what Tcodes they need access to, and they insist that they should have sap_all, and I have no idea what access they SHOULD have.
I was going to post another thread for my questions but I guess there are already too many which address the same issue. These threads did give me a good insight on how SAP Security should be managed, and I was able to get some of it chalked out. I have a few questions though, which I wasn't too sure about even after reading through the countless threads.
Most consultants in my company had sap_all in QA since no one knew what they should be have and often had we noticed that they would be playing with the Basis Tcodes. Now knowing what they have been doing in QA, I do not want to give them sap_all in Prod (although they insisted) at any cost. So, I made a role (z:sap_all), copied sap_all, disabled Basis Tcodes and assigned it to them. Then I kept adding Tcodes one by one on request basis.
We haven't gone Live (they say that we are still in testing phase since the final cutover is due in the next few weeks) yet and I know that this cannot work after Go-Live since z:sap_all has Tcodes like SE38, AL11, SM50 etc in Prod. They say that they need these to do processing and it is okay to give it to them since we haven't gone live. I would also like to mention that my company is trying to get SOX compliant and needs these things in place.
I have been entrusted a BIG responsiblity and am trying my best to live up to the expectations and I am relying yon you guys to help me out.All the Business Roles are in place, and its just the IT roles that I'm worried about.
So, my questions are
1. Until how long is it okay for Functional Consultants to have this kind of access in Prod ?
2. After we Go-Live, would a display only role for all functional Tcodes suffice for them ? Or should they have Basis Tcodes too ? If yes, which ones (Im asking this because I know that it should be minimal)
3. I have been to told to create an "IT-Support role" by the Manager of the Implementation Partner for after GoLive. But he has no idea what T-codes it should have or what it does. Any ideas on this ?
4. I have read about the "firefighting role". Im guessing that the IT Support Role is the same as this. But what exactly does the firefighting role have? And in what situations is it assigned?
5. How important is the period before the final Cutover important as far as SOX compliance goes?
A little enlightenment on the common issues encountered after Go Live would also help me assess the situation a lot better.
I hope Im not asking too much of your time here. Thank you again guys !! Appreciate it !
Kunal