Building trust in the digital society is Utimaco’s slogan and business orientation for both its customers and the end users of our partners and partners.

Now, the company is taking this philosophy one step further by adding HSM as a Service (HSMaaS) to its extensive HSM portfolio, within an ambitious strategic plan in which “trust as a service” will be key in the coming years.

About this and the next plans of Utimaco, Hacan Tiwemark, Utimaco’s operations directo, speaks to us in this interview in an interview with Tai Ciberseguridad, signed by Rosalía Arroyo.

What can Hacan Tiwemark bring to Utimaco in his new role?

We are in a phase of transformation, both as a company and in our markets, where we have been seeing a continuous development from product and on-premises business to a solution and service-oriented business that relies on new ways of working and cloud-based delivery capabilities. With his more than 25 years of experience in Solutions and Services, all the way from Solution design, Solution Sales, System integration, Managed Services and operation of critical Cloud/ DC operations, Hacan is ideally positioned to strengthen the company’s service processes and service operations, ultimately transforming the company into a recurring-revenue service business.
In the two years he served as Utimaco’s Vice President of Professional Service and Solutions since 2021, Hacan had taken over the full functional ownership of Utimaco’s Services and Solutions offerings for its Information Security business unit, and he will now be a major part of the execution of the Solution-as-a-Service strategy across all business units in the coming years.

How important is Utimaco’s as-a-service business today? How far do you want to go?

Our on-premises solution business continues to be a strong revenue stream, but in line with overall market developments we see growing interest and requirements for service-based offerings.
Strategically, Utimaco has been putting a high priority on the as-a-Service business for several years: in 2021, Utimaco acquired MYHSM, the leading provider of Payment HSM as a Service, to fast-forward its Cloud and as-a-Service offering, and we introduced u.trust Anchor, a hardware security module (HSM) platform that enables Cloud Service Providers and Enterprises to offer HSM as a Service (HSMaaS). Since then, we have continued to invest in the platform and in broadening our aaS offering.
If you are asking how far we want to go – let’s just say at the moment that we are working on a “Trust as a Service” concept. You will certainly hear more about this later this year!

Of the company’s product offering (HSM, Key Management, Data Protection, Identity Management…) where is as-a-service model more advanced? Where do you want to focus on more?

We already have a couple of service in each portfolio segment available. Be it in the area of general purpose HSM, payment HSM, key management or even qualified time stamps. Since Payment HSMs in particular have high compliance requirements for their users, we see an extremely large competitive advantage through our Payment HSM as a Service offering MYHSM. We take the burden of the complex operation off the customers. To offer further portfolio elements as a service and expand our geographical availability is our clear roadmap to provide an extended service offering to our customers.

Utimaco’s ultimate vision is to offer one unified online platform with services for all cybersecurity key elements in addition to offering on-premises deployments. With that, we provide our customers the entire cybersecurity experience as per their need with a solution that besides functional use cases also ensure customers to always have an updated platform that meets high availability requirements.

What is driving the As-a-Service model? And the Utimaco proposal?

The general trend for aaS-offerings is driven by several factors: As companies increasingly adapt to the cloud, it is common to outsource use cases in the cloud. This is accelerated by the general lack of specialized cybersecurity staff and high facility costs.
By using as a service (aaS)-offerings, organizations can benefit from reduced on-premises costs as well as labor costs and although rely on the same high performance as by using on-site solutions.

As security is one of the top requirements, customers want to have the peace of mind that cloud-based applications as well as their data and information are as secure as with the use of traditional cybersecurity solutions managed on their end.

This is where Utimaco comes in. We have been experts in the field of encryption technologies for 40 years now. Our long-standing customers know and appreciate our secure and trusted products. Now we are taking them to the next level of partnership and supporting them in the operation of their solutions through our as a service offering.

What is the Utimaco’s value proposition?

In general, our customers and their demands are driving Utimaco as a company. We follow our mission to creating trust in a digital society by listening to the concerns and challenges of our customers and derive reliable cybersecurity solutions so that they can overcome their challenges. Our as a service model is one of these solutions.

Because the effective management of cryptographic keys can become complex, expensive, and risk-prone, we are increasingly experiencing that more and more products are requested as a service for the above-mentioned reasons.

With our service offerings we are addressing this need and relieving customers from the technical burdens that are sometimes linked to using on-premises solutions. This allows our customers to fully focus on their area of expertise and at the same time benefit from highest security for their digital environment. In addition, we flank our services with our local consulting specialists.

 

What are the main challenges in driving the adoption of HSM as a Service? What kind of companies are willing to adopt it?
As HSMaaS-offerings are a valuable addition or even alternative for on-premises HSMs, there is no real challenge in adopting HSMaaS. We rather see reluctancy and hesitation to switch from the well-known hardware in the own datacenter to the abstract concept of having an HSM in the cloud. This requires a shift of mind amongst the customers.

In recent months, we have noticed an increased demand for HSM as a Service throughout all industries around the globe. While in previous years it was mainly small to medium-sized customers who were interested, more recently also large enterprises and organizations have been adopting this trend and actively and looking for a suitable service offering.

What is the company’s strategy for this 2023?
Our vision is to link all the different portfolio elements of Utimaco’s various offerings together to one trusted Utimaco service set – just like the pieces of a puzzle forming a complete picture. It’s about to deliver an interconnected service bouquet for a better customer experience.
In 2023, Utimaco will continue creating trust in the digital society – also as a service!

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About UTIMACO

UTIMACO is a global platform provider of trusted Cybersecurity and Compliance solutions and services with headquarters in Aachen (Germany) and Campbell, CA (USA). UTIMACO develops on-premises and cloud-based hardware security modules, solutions for key management, data protection and identity management as well as data intelligence solutions for regulated critical infrastructures and Public Warning Systems. UTIMACO is one of the world’s leading manufacturers in its key market segments.

500+ employees around the globe create innovative solutions and services to protect data, identities and communication networks with responsibility for global customers and citizens. Customers and partners in many different industries value the reliability and long-term investment security of UTIMACO’s high-security products and solutions. Find out more on www.utimaco.com.