This blog is relating to the communication sent on Monday 9th December and was last updated on 20/12/2024 at 14:00pm.
In this FAQ, we’ll address your questions about what is happening, what it means for you, and how we plan to assist you through the transition. From understanding what happens to your subscriptions and services to learning about potential alternatives or refunds.
We are working to ensure you feel informed and supported throughout this process. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through this together.
General Information
- Why is the service ending?
Due to an unresolved legal dispute between our certificate service supplier GÉANT and their provider Sectigo, the current certificate service will stop on 9 January 2025 and be inaccessible from 10 January 2025.
2. What does this mean for us?
From 9 January 2025, you will no longer be able to request certificates from the Sectigo portal. You will receive a pro-rata refund for your current subscription in January 2025.
Our priority is to ensure we can offer an alternative, competitive solution as quickly as possible. Jisc are aiming to finalise the deal and will announce details as quickly as possible.
3. When is the exact end date of the service?
All customers should expect the current Sectigo service to stop on 9th January 2025, with the service inaccessible from 10th January 2025.
4. What is the last date we can order certificates from?
We believe that the final date you will be able to order certificates through the Sectigo service is 8th January 2025. However, if you require certificates urgently, we strongly recommend issuing them well in advance of this date to ensure a seamless issuance.
5. Will there be a grace period after the service ends?
You will not be able to access the Sectigo service and portal from 10th January 2025. We aim to provide you with details of the new supplier and the transition process, later this week.
6. Will there be any interruptions to the service during the transition?
We anticipate all live certificates will continue to work until their expiry date.
We aim to send further communications shortly with details about our new supplier and guidance on the transition process.
7. What happens to my old certificates / Will my current requests be affected by the change in supplier?
Whilst we cannot guarantee the actions of the provider, we anticipate that all live certificates should not be affected and will continue to work until the expiry date. Access to these certificates on the Sectigo portal will not be available from 10th January 2025.
Transition to a new service
We have formally issued a voluntary ex-ante transparency (VEAT) notice to appoint DigiCert as the new provider for the Jisc certificate service. Although this does not guarantee the appointment, we wanted to be transparent about where we are in the process.
8. Why have we chosen Digicert?
We selected Digicert after conducting a thorough technical review and commercial analysis of quotes from alternative providers and considering our past experiences working with them. Their solution offered the most comprehensive and competitive functionality to meet our needs. Additionally, their pricing structure provides exceptional value, making them the best choice to ensure seamless continuity of service for our customers.
9. Will it be the same as the old Digicert/QuoVadis service?
No. You will be able to benefit from access to the CertCentral platform (similar to the current Sectigo Certificate Manager portal), with greater automation support and functionality compared to the previous service, and our current Sectigo one.
10. Will we lose any functionality from Sectigo?
No, you will not lose functionality. The features available in the new service are broadly the same or even enhanced in some areas. However, they may be structured differently or referred to by different names. We will provide guidance and support to help you navigate these changes seamlessly.
11. Who else did you look at / compare to?
We conducted a comprehensive assessment of over 25 companies and invited 17 to provide quotes. After a detailed evaluation process, we are confident that we have selected the best partner for this interim award. Our decision was based on a careful review of functionality, customer experience, and competitive pricing, ensuring the highest standards for our customers.
12. How do I transition to the new service?
We aim to provide guidance on the transition process and details about the new supplier as soon as possible. Please bear with us while we get this finalised and keep an eye on your inbox for further communications.
13. How will pricing change?
We are currently unable to confirm exact pricing until the contract is formally signed. However, we anticipate that members and customers will continue to benefit from exceptional savings. While some customers may pay less and others may pay more depending on their usage, the new pricing structure is designed to deliver unbeatable value across the board. We will be transitioning back to a price-per-certificate model and will share detailed information about this change as soon as possible.
Impact on existing users
14. What will happen to my data after the service ends? Will it be migrated, or do I need to take action?
Data will not be migrated to the new portal. We recommend downloading a list of issued certificates along with their renewal dates to keep track of upcoming expirations. Onboarding details for the new service will be provided later this week.
Jisc will need to retain some records relating to the old service, for a period of time, for auditing and operational purposes. We will confirm details of this as quickly as possible.
15. Can I still access historical records or use certificates issued before the service ends?
Access to the Sectigo portal will end on 9 January 2025. After this date, you will no longer be able to access any content from the portal. However, we anticipate that any active certificates set to expire after this date will remain valid until their expiration date.
Jisc are working to gain further clarity from Sectigo about how the service will be deprovisioned, and will provide updates as soon as we are able to do so.
16. Will there be any downtime during the transition?
We do not expect there to be any downtime between now and 9th January 2025.
17.Will we still receive notifications from the Sectigo portal?
We are assuming at this moment in time that we will lose this functionality. However, as per the previous transition, we will be able to export all live certificates into our management portal and continue to send notifications out 30/15/7/1 days before expiry.
Support and assistance
18. What support is available to help with the transition?
Our team is available to assist with any questions or concerns you may have about the process. You can contact the service desk team on certificates@jisc.ac.uk
We will also be holding virtual drop-in sessions to help answer your questions. The details for these will be provided to you by email, so please keep an eye on your inbox.
19. Are there any training materials or documentation for the new service?
We will provide guidance, documentation and training materials to help you navigate the changes. These we will be available once the new service is live.
20. How many certs do I have / can I have a list of all my certificates?
To generate a list of your organisation’s certificates, follow these steps:
- Log in to the Sectigo Portal.
- In the sidebar, select Reports.
- Click the Green Plus Icon to create a new report.
We recommend running reports for the following certificate types:
-
- SSL Certificates
- Client Certificates
- Code Signing Certificates
You can use the date filters as needed to refine your report.
After adding the report:
- Select the report.
- Click Start to generate it.
The report may take a few minutes to populate. Once ready, it will be available for download.
21. Will there be changes to how I submit requests or report issues?
We will provide more details on this shortly. Once the new provider’s service is live, you will be able to request all new certificates via the new provider’s portal.
Any issues will still need to be raised with our service desk team at certificates@jisc.ac.uk
22. Can we have a call to discuss?
Unfortunately, due to the nature of this situation, we are unable to accommodate one-on-one calls. However, we will be arranging online drop-in sessions to address any concerns or questions you may have. We will share details of these sessions by email, so please make sure to keep an eye out in your inbox.
23. How do we revoke our current certificates once we move to the new supplier?
There are two ways a certificate can be revoked after the 9th of January:
- Sectigo Revocation Portal – https://secure.sectigo.com/products/RevocationPortal
- Ticket Support – https://www.sectigo.com/support-ticket
Urgent needs
24. Are there any actions I need to take?
We are suspending certificate issuing limits for all customer accounts in Sectigo so that you have the option to renew certificates with Sectigo now, at no extra charge, if you so wish.
25. Can I expedite certain requests before the service shuts down?
If you encounter any issues with your certificate requests through the Sectigo portal, please reach out to the service desk as normal via certificates@jisc.ac.uk
We will escalate requests wherever possible to assist you.
Financial and contractual questions
26. Will there be refunds for unused portions of the service?
We will be issuing pro-rata refunds to all customers for their current Sectigo subscriptions, throughout January 2025. Details will be confirmed as soon as possible.
27. Will pricing change with the new supplier?
The pricing model is currently being finalised however, we are confident that the replacement provider will continue to offer rates considerably below those available on the open market.
28. We have just renewed our subscription, should we cancel it?
You have 2 options:
We are happy to cancel your subscription today, however you will lose access once your subscription duration runs out. This will mean that we can process your refund today.
Or, if you want to keep using the service until January, You can do so. We have removed issuing limits, so that you can renew any certificates necessary in light of the situation. We will then issue a pro rata refund in January.
If your subscription is due to expire after January 9th, you do not need to renew your subscription. We hope to provide more information on the sign up process soon.
29. What are the cost implications of this change?
Although we will be moving back to a price per certificate model, members should still expect to receive exceptional discounts as well as improved functionality.
Apologies for the vague answer, we aim to provide further information, as soon as possible, in our next communication.
We hope this FAQ has addressed some of your initial questions and provided clarity during this period of transition. We know that change often brings uncertainty, and we are committed to keeping you informed every step of the way.
As we continue to work through the details, more information will be made available soon. If you didn’t find the answer you were looking for here, we’re listening to your feedback and will address additional questions as they arise.
Thank you for your patience, understanding, and continued trust in us during this time. Stay tuned for updates—we’ll be sharing them as soon as we can.
If you have any feedback or questions in the meantime, please contact the service desk via certificates@jisc.ac.uk
(This blog was last updated on 20/12/2024 at, 14:00pm)