DigiCert uniquely positioned to support India's digital certificate needs

DigiCert, with the addition of Symantec’s Website Security business, is a global provider of digital certificates for website security. Globally, leading banks, e-commerce, technology, healthcare and manufacturing companies rely on DigiCert to provide scalable encryption and authentication for their most valuable online properties. In India, DigiCert serves thousands of customers across small, mid-size and large firms.

Throwing more light on the company and its expertise, Ray Garnie, Senior Vice President – APAC, DigiCert speaks about how the acquisition of Symantec’s website security business have paved the way for the company to reposition its market presence while also talking about its expansion plans -

Could you brief us more about the company and your area of expertise?

DigiCert is the world’s leading provider of TLS/SSL certificates for website security (think the padlock); PKI and digital certificates for enterprise identity, authentication, integrity and encryption (VPN, secure email, enterprise mobility management, Wi-Fi authentication, document signing, strong web authentication, IoT, smart card login); and, related identity and authentication solutions.

Could you also talk about your acquisition of Symantec's website security business and your business positioning post that?

DigiCert acquired the Symantec Website Security and related PKI solutions in Nov. 2017 and then helped customers replace their Symantec-issued certificates with ones from DigiCert to avoid the Symantec distrust issues. We replaced more than 5 million impacted certificates without impacts to the web and allowing our customers to continue on with their security needs for the websites. As a result of this successful project, DigiCert grew last year during a year of transition and has expanded our business even further in 2019. We are the world’s leading provider of digital certificates, with 89% of the Fortune 500 and 97 of the world’s 100 largest banks using us. Similarly, in India, the majority of the market’s leading e-commerce, banks, government and technology companies use DigiCert.

With the acquisition, we are now the world’s only truly global certificate provider with offices and partners spanning the globe. We have more than a dozen global offices and many valued partners, including in India, where we work with companies such as JNR Management, Adweb Technologies and Acmetek. DigiCert has a large team of engineers and an R&D group focused on building smart platforms for TLS and PKI certificate management through automation. We have a very modern technology infrastructure to support our customers and partners, including brand-new, state-of-the-art data centers and regionalized technology services to provide the industry’s fastest load times for https-enabled web pages.

As a company, we also have our industry’s only full-time R&D unit, which we call DigiCert Labs. This group is exploring how Machine Learning and AI can improve our processes. They are also active in improving security for blockchain implementations and advancing cryptographic algorithm protections against the coming threats of quantum computing. Once commercially viable quantum computers are available, they will have the compute power to break today’s commonly used algorithms for encryption (RSA and ECC). Some predict this to happen within 7-10 years. Now is the time for companies to test their systems and prepare to implement quantum-resistant algorithms. We are doing research and helping our customers test these new algorithms in their systems, to stay ahead of pending threats.

What are your expansion plans for India market? What has been your presence so far and how many customers have you been serving of late?

We enjoy a strong presence in India. We are working closely with our in-country staff and our partners to grow our business in India. This country is rapidly growing in economic opportunity and digital business. DigiCert is uniquely positioned to support India’s digital certificate needs for websites, enterprise authentication and encryption, and protecting IoT devices. What we offer through our partners and our global technology is unmatched.

Which are the key verticals you eyeing both in India and globally?

Globally, we serve all industries. We are the choice for companies of any size for digital certificate issuance and management, and related services. Within India, we are particularly strong across all verticals. The Top 3 telecom service providers, top 3 IT and ITES companies, top 3 eCommerce and retail companies and Prime Ministers Offices, Reserve Bank of India and the top 3 largest business houses in India all uses DigiCert.

How lucrative is the SMB business when it comes to doing security business with them?

SMBs, like large enterprises, are required to use https to earn the trust of their customers and to avoid “Not Secure” warnings on their websites for users of the major browsers (Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, etc.). Many times, SMBs lack the resources for a fully trained staff to manage certificates, and they benefit by outsourcing those needs to us to provide them with a strong platform for automation of certificate management. Additionally, because of the strong customer support that we offer (5-star and best-rated in the industry), SMBs benefit as our teams are able to answer their questions and guide them in their TLS, PKI implementations.

What is your go-to-market strategy? Is it a partner or a direct sales business model that you follow?

In most of the world, we offer both models. Primarily, within India, we follow a partner business model, working with companies with an established business model and local expertise to help customers in India.