Elevate your AD CS capabilities with Sectigo Certificate Manager

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Microsoft Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) has long been the go-to public key infrastructure (PKI) solution for managing digital certificates in Microsoft-based environments. We all know the critical role that securing data and ensuring authentication plays for organizations. However, as technology evolves, the needs of modern enterprises have changed, with more demands from their PKI systems.

August 17, 20233 min read

Companies face challenges when relying solely on AD CS – it's high maintenance, there are interoperability issues, and it’s time consuming, and complex. This is where Sectigo Certificate Manager (SCM) comes to the rescue, automating certificate lifecycle management and ensuring seamless integration with a diverse tech stack.

The Changing IT Environment

The rapid digital transformation of businesses has led to increasingly complex and heterogeneous IT environments. Distributed workforces, hybrid and multi-cloud setups, and a broad range of vendors providing solutions have become the new norm. In this landscape, open and interoperable solutions are crucial for enterprise IT leaders.

Challenges with AD CS

While AD CS has been a reliable solution, it does present some challenges for today's enterprises:

High Maintenance: Managing certificates using AD CS is a manual process for non-Windows entities that heavily relies on on-premise infrastructure, lacking cloud-native capabilities.
Interoperability Issues: While AD CS integrates well within the Microsoft ecosystem, it often lacks integrations with commonly used enterprise technologies outside this environment.
Time-Consuming: The manual process of managing digital certificates using AD CS can be time-consuming and error-prone, making it a burden for IT administrators who have many other responsibilities.
Complexity: Deploying and managing Microsoft CA requires specialized PKI knowledge and a dedicated staff, making it challenging for some organizations to implement.
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): Though Microsoft CAs are theoretically free, there are hidden costs for hardware, expert teams, and annual maintenance, which can quickly add up.
The management user interface is dated and lacks intuitive flow which makes navigating difficult.

Sectigo Certificate Manager

Sectigo Certificate Manager (SCM) offers a comprehensive solution for organizations looking to enhance their AD CS capabilities and streamline certificate lifecycle management. SCM addresses the challenges of manual management, lack of interoperability, and the high TCO associated with traditional AD CS.

Two Paths to Augmentation

Sectigo Certificate Manager provides two paths for organizations to fulfill their certificate management needs:

Augment certificate management capabilities of ADCS: SCM seamlessly integrates with AD CS, automating the entire lifecycle of digital certificates for Microsoft applications, while also extending its functionality to non-Microsoft applications.
Replace AD CS and Scale with a Cloud-Based Sectigo Private CA: Sectigo offers a natively agnostic and cloud-based CA that scales effortlessly with the organization's needs, providing a more flexible and versatile solution. You will continue to use Windows auto-enrollment capabilities while leveraging SCM’s automation and management features.

Unified Certificate Management

With Sectigo Certificate Manager, administrators gain a unified view of all certificates within the enterprise. From a single pane of glass, they can enforce cryptography policies across various applications that utilize these certificates. This centralized approach simplifies management and enhances security.

A Comprehensive Certificate Management Solution

SCM offers a full spectrum of certificate management offerings, enabling organizations to oversee the entire lifecycle of digital certificates in their digital environments. By automating processes and reducing manual intervention, SCM minimizes risks, responds to threats more effectively, and lowers operating costs.

As organizations embrace digital transformation, their PKI solutions need to evolve to meet new challenges. Sectigo Certificate Manager provides a robust and automated approach to certificate lifecycle management, overcoming the limitations of traditional AD CS. By augmenting AD CS with SCM, enterprises can enhance security, streamline operations, and ensure seamless integration with their dynamic tech stack.

Are you ready to elevate your AD CS capabilities with Sectigo Certificate Manager? To learn more, visit www.sectigo.com/contact.