The Challenge
Before Keyfactor, Siemens’ PKI deployment processes were not yet standardized for enterprise-wide scale, which increased setup time and reliance on specialized expertise. As the organization advanced toward a zero-trust security model, Siemens identified the need for a more automated and repeatable approach across products and environments.
-
Manual deployment inefficiencies
Time-consuming manual workflows delayed system setup and increased operational cost.
-
Scalable PKI
Supporting a growing number of products required consistent and repeatable PKI configurations.
-
Limited agility for zero-trust initiatives
Slow and rigid PKI deployment hindered Siemens’ ability to support a growing zero-trust strategy.
The Solution
Automated PKI as Code at Scale
Siemens deployed Keyfactor EJBCA Enterprise as the foundation of its in-house PKI and automated deployment using Red Hat Ansible. Infrastructure as code enabled the team to automate installation, configuration, hardening, and HSM integration in a repeatable way. The approach standardized PKI operations across environments while reducing setup time and production cost.
EJBCA Enterprise has simplified and automated PKI operations at scale. Thanks to the speed of automated deployment, PKI teams can fail fast and readjust without wasting time and resources.”
Siemens also leveraged open-source Ansible playbooks released by Keyfactor to accelerate adoption and ensure production-ready deployments.
Business Impact
By automating PKI deployment, Siemens reduced setup time from more than a week to just one day. Infrastructure as code eliminated configuration drift and ensured consistent results across deployments, improving reliability and auditability. Automated workflows also reduced dependency on individual team members, with code serving as living documentation for PKI operations.
-
Faster and more efficient deployments
Automated playbooks dramatically reduced time and effort required to deploy PKI systems.
-
Consistent and repeatable configurations
PKI as code ensures the same secure results every time, eliminating manual errors.
-
Operational Continuity
Siemens can experiment, refine, and expand PKI use cases without disrupting operations.
“With automated deployment, less time is lost when something does not work as planned.”
