JANET Certificate Service reaches 1000!

New improved service attracts record number of registrations in just over one month!

19 JANUARY 2010: Since its launch in November 2009, the new JANET Certificate service has achieved rapid growth, with the University of Birmingham receiving the 1000th registered certificate in January 2010.

The new improved service now offers a quicker and easier way for organisations to request and manage certificates and as a result has attracted a number of new customers alongside those transitioned from the previous service.

“We have seen a steady rise in the number of people using server certificates over the last few years as network security becomes an increasingly important issue,” says Shirley Wood, Head of Communications and Support at JANET(UK). “A number of JANET services rely on the use of electronic certificates, including the UK federation, so it is important that we can offer this service to our customers. We have been acting as a Registration Authority for nearly 3 years, but with the improved capabilities of the new service we can offer even better service delivery and flexibility to our customers, all at zero cost to them!”

Once registration is complete, the new on-line interface provides quicker delivery of certificates with automated processing of certificate requests. Users are now able to monitor and manage new certificates through their personalised on-line account; and automated alerts mean that organisations are made aware of certificates that are close to their expiry date.

Following the launch of the service there has been a marked increase in customers applying for certificates ‘out of hours’ including evening and weekends. As the delivery of certificates is now automated, our customers have the flexibility of anytime, anywhere access to their certificates.

"The 1000th JANET(UK) certificate has been deployed in the user authentication process as part of the University of Birmingham’s extensive wireless network infrastructure which supports staff, students and visitors including “JANET roamers”, says Dr John Turnbull, Head of Networks at the University of Birmingham. "We value the JANET certificate service because it avoids the added complication of distributing UoB self signed certificates to the many and varied wireless devices on our network."

All existing customers are currently being transitioned to the new service and new customers/registrations will automatically form part of the new JANET Certificate Service. Further developments to the service will be reviewed during the year ahead and customers will continue to receive excellent value for money through this important service.

For further details of the service, please visit: http://www.ja.net/services/jcs/index.html