Sectigo has launched Sectigo Certificates as a Service (CaaS) for Partners. The new service will enable its partners to certificate lifecycle management and domain validation procedures using a single API. The announcement is the latest service available to partners to help improve their services by leveraging the Sectigo platform.
Sectigo CaaS targeted the resellers that administrate site certificates and domain validation. Under Sectigo CaaS, partners can automate the process of certificate lifecycle management for customers. The service is specifically targeted at SSL/PKI resellers, domain registrars, web hosts, and managed service providers (MSPs).
The new services deliver an option for partners to provide subscription-based pricing with a pay-per-domain model. This replaces the often cumbersome and only partly automated certificate management, which are priced per certificate and often administration-heavy.
The new solution enables much of the manual effort, delivering seamless management for partners to deliver unlimited certificates to clients. The transition to subscription-based pricing is a trend across several industries, and with certificates requiring regular renewal, it is an obvious step.
Jairo Fraile, Vice President of Global Partner Sales at Sectigo, commented, “By transitioning from a per-certificate pricing model to a predictable, scalable per-domain subscription model, partners can now efficiently manage large volumes of certificates across multiple customers and significantly reduce operational overhead for their customers. This shift allows our partners to scale their certificate business profitably while ensuring their customers maintain continuous security coverage.”
Why CaaS is important
The pandemic accelerated the shift to digital services that had already commenced nearly two decades ago. Academic research by Williams, Chatterjee and Rossi noted in 2008 that “There has been a gigantic shift from a product-based economy to one based on services, specifically digital services.” McKinsey identified that during the pandemic, digital transformation accelerated.
The move has accelerated the demand for SSL/TLS certificates. SSL Insights estimates that the global market is expected to expand from $167 million in 2023 to reach $282 million by 2028, at a CAGR of 11%.
That growth figure may be conservative, with Google revealing that it would reduce the maximum validity of TLS certificates to 90 days. Apple has proposed reducing the TLS certificate validity from 398 days to just 47 days. This would mean 8 times the volume of certificates by March 15, 2028. Apple is scaling down the duration with 200 days in 2026 and 100 days in 2027. Automation is, therefore, critical for this process.
The increase in cadence means that partners must either develop there own automation or leverage now provided by Sectiigo—CaaS enables partners to automate their issuing process and billing easily.
Several partners have already used the solution. Tatsuo Osaka, Chief Executive Officer at Nijimo Inc., a reseller of SSL certificates, commented, “We want to support our customers in reducing the risk of service outages caused by expired certificates and simplifying the certificate management process. Sectigo CaaS eliminates human error in certificate renewals, minimizes downtime due to expired certificates, and provides a seamless, automated solution that enables our customers to focus on their core business operations.”
Sectigo CaaS explained
CaaS uses Automated Certificate Management Environment (ACME) to automate PKI certificate lifecycle management. ACME simplifies certificate issuance, renewal, and revocation with JSON-formatted messages over HTTPS, ensuring secure and efficient operations for IT teams managing vast certificate ecosystems.
Partners can manage all customer domain subscriptions from a single endpoint. The multi-tenant solution enables those partners to manage multiple clients, with each having multiple certificates. The platform delivers the solution to a problem that will rapidly emerge in the coming months. It will also enable partners to effectively scale their operations as the efficiency of certificate lifecycle management improves.
The automation will also reduce manual effort, freeing up time for staff to conduct more profitable activities while ensuring that the security and reliability of their existing certificate management are maintained.
Sectigo is delivering on this promise to partners. Kevin Weiss, Sectigo CEO, stated, “At Sectigo, we pride ourselves on the strength of our partnerships. We equip our partners with world-class digital trust solutions and all the tools they need to be successful. We are fully committed to driving mutual growth every step of the way. Come and join us, you won’t be disappointed.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
Sectigo offers a wide range of benefits to its partners. However, Sectigo CaaS demonstrates that it understands the challenges that partners will face and also provides an opportunity for growth. This new tailored solution complements the other solutions that Sectigo partners offer clients. These now include:
- Automated Certificate Lifecycle Management
- API-based Digital Certificates
- SiteLock Website Security
- CodeGuard Website Disaster Recovery
- HackerGuardian PCI Scanning
What is missing from the announcement are details of the monitoring and reporting that Sectigo CaaS will deliver. Once the landing page for Sectigo CaaS is live there should be more details available. It will be interesting to see how the firm develops the platform. Will it build-in automated notifications, integration to billing platforms and trend analysis?
