“The landscape has shifted under our feet. With the rapid adoption of Software as a Service, all the beautiful protections provided by on-premises network security are totally bypassed.” — Weber Yuan, Ph.D, Lead Architect, CIO, Identity Services & Information Security, IBM

In the new digital landscape, Software as a Service models are disrupting the traditional approach to user security. Companies need universal, scalable IT services—anywhere and everywhere their users need those services to stay productive and connected within a distributed global environment. IBM’s CIO Office (which is essentially the company’s functioning IT Department), in partnership with DigiCert, has developed an innovative solution.

By using easy-to-deploy digital certificates to validate user identities—on and off the corporate network—IBM has created both user-enabling services for wireless, VPN, and secure email that are easy to use, protect company and user data, and avoid costly service interruptions for 500,000 internal users spread across 170 countries.