March 15, 2029. That’s the date when SSL / TLS certificates will officially shrink to a 47-day lifespan. It sounds distant, until you realize what’s coming between now and then. The phased reductions to 200 days (2026), 100 days (2027), and finally 47 days (2029) aren’t just technical milestones. They’re operational landmines for any enterprise still relying on manual certificate management.
If your organization is waiting until 2029 to act, you’re already behind.
The Clock is Ticking—And Complexity is Rising
Today’s certificate management may still feel manageable. But let’s be clear; by 2026, certs will expire every 6–7 months. By 2027, every 3 months. And by 2029, every 47 days. That means:
- Renewals will become a near-weekly task
- By 2028 domain validation reuse will shrink to just 10 days
- Manual workflows will collapse under the weight of volume and velocity
Henrik Dürr, CEO of TrustZone, puts it bluntly:
“This kind of scale can’t be handled manually. It demands automation that can actually keep up.”
Why Waiting is a Strategic Miscalculation
The risks of inaction are already playing out:
- Expired certificates are causing outages across VPNs, websites, and internal services
- Compliance violations are increasing as certs slip through the cracks
- Security gaps are widening due to lagging revocations and stale data
“Manual cert management isn’t just inefficient—it’s dangerous. One missed expiration and your infrastructure could go dark.” - Kevin Naidoo,
And it’s not just about risk—it’s about cost. Enterprises are burning through engineering hours trying to maintain certificate inventories across AWS, Azure, Intune, and other platforms. The labor costs alone are unsustainable.
Automation is the Only Viable Path Forward
Automated Certificate Lifecycle Management (CLM) enables:
- Discovery, issuance, renewal, and revocation at scale
- API-driven workflows that eliminate human error
- Audit-ready compliance with real-time visibility
- Integration with platforms like ServiceNow, Azure Key Vault, and Intune
The difference is night and day:
|
Manual PKI |
Automated CLM |
|
High labor costs |
Lower TCO via reduced overhead |
|
Frequent outages |
Increased uptime & reliability |
|
Resource-intensive renewals |
API-driven automation |
|
Human errors |
Intelligent scheduling & lifecycle control |
|
Compliance complexity |
Streamlined audits & reporting |
Why Acting Now Pays Off Later
Transitioning to automation today gives your organization time to:
- Audit your certificate landscape
- Classify assets by sensitivity
- Deploy automation in high-risk areas
- Secure keys with HSMs
- Educate teams on lifecycle changes
It also positions you for the post-quantum future. Shorter lifespans are part of a broader strategy to improve cryptographic agility and prepare for quantum-safe standards. The organizations that act now will be the ones ready for what’s next.
Ready to Move From Chaos to Clarity?
The journey to 47-day certificates isn’t just about compliance—it’s about control. It’s about building a resilient infrastructure that can adapt to rapid change. And it’s about freeing your teams from the chaos of manual certificate management to focus on strategic security initiatives.
March 15, 2029, isn’t the time to start preparation—it’s the time to face the changes fully prepared. The urgency is real, and the time to automate is now. GlobalSign’s eBook, The 47 Day Journey From Chaos to Clarity in Certificate Management, offers a practical roadmap for IT and security leaders to automate, streamline, and future-proof their certificate strategy. From cost calculators to integration guides, it’s packed with actionable insights to help you take control before the chaos hits.
