Managing SSL certificates might sound simple at first—buy, install, renew. But as organizations grow, this "simple" process quickly becomes messy. Companies often juggle dozens or even hundreds of certificates across different servers, applications, and business units. That's where the choice between manual and automated certificate management makes all the difference.

The Pain of Manual Certificate Management
Manual management usually involves:
· Spreadsheet tracking of certificate expiration dates
· Manual CSR generation and submission
· Copy-paste installation across servers
· Last-minute renewals when expiration notices arrive
The risks here are significant:
· Outages: One forgotten certificate renewal can bring down a website or service.
· Security gaps: Misconfigured certificates leave room for vulnerabilities.
· High operational costs: IT teams spend countless hours repeating low-value tasks.
A real-world example? In 2020, Microsoft Teams experienced several hours of disruption due to an expired authentication certificate.

Why Automation Changes the Game
Automated certificate management eliminates these risks by:
· Centralizing visibility of all certificates in one dashboard
· Automating renewals before expiry dates
· Streamlining installation across multiple systems
· Enforcing policies (like always using EV or OV SSL for customer-facing portals)
Instead of firefighting outages, IT teams can focus on strategic security initiatives.

Solutions for Automated Management
Today, businesses have access to professional solutions that make SSL management much easier.
NicSRS CLM: Provides a full suite of tools for discovery, tracking, renewal, and compliance, ensuring no certificate ever slips through the cracks.
sslTrus CaaS (coming soon): A approach that enables organizations to automate certificate issuance and renewal seamlessly, reducing the need for manual intervention even further. Stay tuned or contact us for details.
With these solutions, businesses can achieve zero downtime from certificate expiration, cut operational costs, and stay compliant with security standards.

The Bottom Line
SSL certificates are essential, but managing them manually is no longer sustainable for modern businesses. Outages and security gaps are just too costly. By moving toward automated certificate management with solutions like NicSRS CLM and sslTrus CaaS, organizations can protect their digital assets more reliably while freeing their IT teams from repetitive tasks.

Automation isn't just a convenience—it's a necessity.