How Nexus Transformed Certificate Management from Roadblock to Competitive Advantage

The journey from manual, bottlenecked certificate processes to streamlined, automated cloud infrastructure

Nexus, a pseudonym for a large financial company in the UK, had a serious problem that most customers never saw but every employee felt.

The company relied on digital “certificates,” which are a kind of invisible ID card that makes sure systems can talk to each other safely. Without them, online banking, apps, and internal systems can’t prove who’s who, and security falls apart. But at Nexus, getting one of these certificates took weeks.

Developers who were trying to build new apps in the cloud had to wait, fill out forms, and depend on a small group of people who were allowed to request them. What should have been a quick, behind-the-scenes step was slowing down innovation and blocking projects.

The company knew it couldn’t keep moving forward with such an outdated process. They partnered with us at Axon Shield to modernize certificate management and turn it from a roadblock into an enabler of progress.

Building Trust from the Foundation

The first priority was building trust. Just like a government issues passports, a “root” authority issues the original digital ID that every other certificate relies on.

Nexus set up a new, highly secure root system that was kept offline and protected by special hardware. At the same time, they made sure old and new systems would continue to trust each other during the transition. That meant no customer apps or services would suddenly stop working.

Making the Process Faster and More Affordable

Next came making the process faster and more affordable. Instead of continuing to handle everything in-house, Nexus re-negotiated with a vendor that specializes in digital certificates.

By shifting the balance between the kinds of certificates they needed, Nexus managed to triple the number they could issue without increasing costs. They also added a cloud-based system so developers could request certificates instantly, right from the tools they were already using. A task that once took weeks was now reduced to seconds.

Rolling Out Success

The rollout happened in phases. First, contracts were restructured and new systems set up. Then automation was introduced so developers could “self-serve” certificates instead of waiting on approvals. Finally, the system was scaled across the company.

There were bumps along the way like a testing mistake that accidentally generated hundreds of certificates or delays because teams hadn’t updated their devices with the new trusted lists. But because these issues were caught early and lessons were applied, these bumps never threatened the overall success.

The Results

The results were dramatic. Instead of waiting weeks, developers could now get certificates immediately. The company could issue three times as many certificates as before without spending more money. Teams no longer depended on a bottlenecked approval process. They had the freedom to move quickly and innovate. Furthermore, the cloud migration that had once been stalled could move forward at full speed.

For Nexus, this upgrade became a turning point that turned a hidden but critical problem into a foundation for growth.