ManageEngine puts web certificates on autopilot

Zoho-owned IT management company ManageEngine has updated Key Manager Plus to automate the final steps of renewing digital certificates that secure websites, servers and online services.

The software can now install renewed certificates on servers, run required scripts, restart affected services and notify staff without manual intervention.

“Key Manager Plus now automates the final stages of certificate renewal, pushing certificates to the target server, running configured scripts, restarting dependent services, and notifying stakeholders,” says the company. “Now, the whole certificate life cycle runs without manual intervention.

“As South African organisations continue to digitise customer and business services, ensuring cyber resilience and business continuity has become increasingly critical. The 2024 South African Reserve Bank’s Directive on cybersecurity and cyber-resilience calls on payment institutions to strengthen cyber resilience, regularly test recovery capabilities, manage third-party risks, and maintain the continuity of critical services.”

According to ManageEngine, shorter TLS certificate validity periods are increasing the operational burden of certificate management. End-to-end automation can reduce the risk of expired certificates, service disruptions and compliance gaps.

Many organisations previously limited certificate management automation to discovery, expiry alerts and, in some cases, renewals. The need for broader automation has increased since the CA/Browser Forum approved shorter validity periods for public TLS certificates. The maximum validity period fell from 398 days to 200 days in March 2026. The limit is scheduled to decline to 100 days in March 2027 and 47 days in March 2029.

David C Howell, ManageEngine SA regional sales director, says: “South African organisations are under growing pressure to secure an expanding mix of on-premises and cloud-based systems, often with lean IT teams and limited resources. As certificate lifespans continue to shrink, relying on manual renewal processes increases the risk of expired certificates, service disruptions, and unnecessary security gaps. Automating certificate life cycle management helps IT teams reduce that operational burden while maintaining visibility and control across increasingly complex environments.”

Automating the last mile of certificate renewal

Deploying a certificate is the final stage of the renewal process, but many teams still handle the task manually. As certificate lifespans shorten and renewals become more frequent, the risk of manual errors increases. Certificate-related outages can also carry significant financial costs.

Vasudevan Seshadri, ManageEngine director of product management, says: “Certificate renewal is rarely the hard part. The work that piles up on teams is what comes after it, at scale: Pushing certificates to the server, restarting the services, and confirming they actually went live. End-to-end automation is what turns a 47-day renewal cycle from a scramble into something that runs on its own. With Key Manager Plus, we are eliminating the last manual step in the life cycle management loop.”

Quantifying the 47-day shift

To help organisations assess how shorter certificate validity periods could affect their operations, ManageEngine has released a 47-day TLS impact calculator. The tool considers three factors: the number of certificates managed; the labour required for renewals; and the potential impact of outages.

The calculator compares current costs and risks with the projected figures under a fully automated certificate lifecycle. ManageEngine said Key Manager Plus provides that automation across both on-premises and cloud deployments.