You can set your own certificate and key management policies and engineer your infrastructure to comply with these policies. In addition, insourced PKI products are more feature-rich, and thus more flexible, than outsourced PKI services. Outsourced PKI services from vendors such as VeriSign, Thawte and GTE also have advantages. Costs and schedules are more predictable because you can leverage existing expertise. You're subject to the outsourced PKI service provider's policies, but can gain improved interoperability by joining the provider's trust network.
Cost is obviously a concern, as well.
Insourced PKIs cost less per user than outsourced PKIs, but overall support costs are higher. You will have to issue a significant number of certificates before your insourced PKI investment begins to pay off. A wise approach may be to get your feet wet with a PKI pilot involving a few users and an outsourced PKI solution. You can then switch to an insourced solution as usage rises. Feedback Tell us your thoughts on this article or the issues raised in it.