Challenge

Integration of cloud solutions into the Helvetia environment

Helvetia had an existing enterprise PKI solution in place, which supported ten use cases (various certificate types and enrollment processes). The enterprise PKI was integrated into Helvetia’s existing processes and management tools.

Particularly important was the integration of cloud solutions into the Helvetia environment as well as the implementation and migration of use cases to the new solution. The focus was on challenges from technical, organisational, and operational perspectives – with a particular emphasis on leveraging automation opportunities to reduce operational costs.

Use of “Private Trust” and “Public Trust” Certificates

Helvetia’s heterogeneous IT landscape – spanning Microsoft, Linux, and SAP – requires both “Private Trust” and “Public Trust” certificates, with the inclusion of Helvetia’s service providers as well. High service availability was also essential, as day-to-day operations cannot be carried out without these services.

The new solution was expected to be future-proof in order to prevent “shadow CAs” and other third-party solutions – with the goal of ensuring centralised management and governance of the enterprise PKI. 

Solution 

Concept Development and Project Implementation as a Team

Helvetia chose the managed PKI solution from libC Technologies, which is based on the SwissPKI^TM product. The PKI is offered as a managed service across various cloud platforms.

The implementation concept was developed jointly in workshops to ensure that the requirements were correctly identified and interpreted, and also to guarantee continuous knowledge transfer from libC to Helvetia.

Our consulting team consisted of in-house employees who had already successfully completed various projects together as an established team and who brought many years of experience in their respective areas of expertise.
 

Automated Certificate Management and Seamless System Integration

The „SwissPKI^TM Shared Platform“ is hosted in Switzerland and operated by libC as the provider in collaboration with partners. The platform is ready for immediate delivery, cost-effective, easy to use, and already includes key protection via Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) in its entry-level version.

Certificate lifecycle management was given high priority. Full integration into Helvetia’s Configuration Management Database (CMDB) was ensured. To avoid disruptions, Helvetia’s process landscape mapped in ServiceNow was fully integrated via existing SwissPKI^TM interfaces. The content validation of certificate requests is fully automated in the new solution – significantly reducing the personnel effort required.

The new solution takes over the central management of all certificates: while “Private Trust” certificates are issued directly, the processing of “Public Trust” certificates is handled via the SwissPKI^TM
interface to an external trust provider.

Benefits

• SwissPKI^TM Managed Service offers preconfigured solution modules for most use cases, enabling rapid commissioning.
• In workshops, our consultants translate customer requirements into concrete solution concepts, present cost-efficient approaches – and demonstrate how to avoid cost drivers.
• Comprehensive PKI service with a defined Service Level Agreement (SLA)
• Key sovereignty remains with the customer; keys are securely stored in a Hardware Security Module (HSM)
• Certificate issuance with defined approval processes
• Complete lifecycle management, including automatic certificate renewal
• Low operating costs through efficient automation and standardisation

About The Helvetia Group

Helvetia operates in both life and non-life insurance. With over 14,000 employees (FTE), it provides services to more than 6.7 million customers and achieved a business volume of CHF 11.6 billion in the 2024 financial year. Helvetia places great importance on meaningful geographic diversification as well as a balanced mix between the profitable non-life business, the high-potential pension business, and the promising international specialty lines business.

The registered shares of Helvetia Holding AG are traded on the Swiss stock exchange SIX Swiss Exchange.

Further information about Helvetia Insurance is available at https://www.helvetia.com