Today we’re announcing a few things around that migration and decommissioning plan to all Resellers so you can plan accordingly:

Effective November 1, 2011, we’re going to decommission the older SSL Service platform along with the TPP API for SSL.

After that date, it will no longer be possible to use the RWI2 to provision or manage SSL certificates Use of the TPP API for SSL will also be disabled.

Please note: the Managed DNS Service which also uses the TPP API and RWI2 will continue to function normally after November 1, 2011.

As part of this shutdown, we’ll be migrating existing SSL orders from the older SSL Service to the new OpenSRS Control Panel Trust Manager. That migration will also happen on November 1, 2011.

If you are wondering if this has an impact on you, here’s some help to figure that out:

More Information

We have more information available including a list of frequently asked questions. If you have any concerns about this move and how it may impact you, or your customers, please don’t hesitate to call Reseller Support. Contact information is available here.

There’s a variety of content modules to choose from – including VeriSign, GeoTrust and thawte product brands. Based on iframes, it’s easy to use: look at the modules you want, and cut and paste the code to your desired template page. The iframe content is dynamically served (or populated), so it’s always kept up-to-date on your site without any action required on your part. It’s a great way to make sure that you always have the “latest and greatest” marketing materials on your site to sell more SSL.

Get Started Today!

Get started with VeriSign Partner Grab and Go, provided by OpenSRS, by visiting the Grab and Go website. You’ll learn more about how the content modules work, and how to get them installed in your own site so you can either maximize your existing SSL and trust sales, or get started with selling SSL.

See it in Person at Parallels Summit 2011

And if you are at the Parallels Summit in Orlando, FL this week, be sure to drop by the OpenSRS booth in the Expo Hall (Booth 102). Both OpenSRS and VeriSign Partner Program people will be there at the show. We can demonstrate how Grab and Go works, and talk to you about the opportunities available for selling SSL and trust products to your customers.

If you haven’t yet tapped into the opportunities that selling SSL and Trust products offer, then this represents a great time to look into how you can integrate SSL and trust into your existing offering.

Here’s what is happening today:

• We’re changing the name of our SSL Service to OpenSRS Trust Service to better reflect a broadening of the product line from just SSL Certificates to things like malware scanning products and enhanced trust seals.
• OpenSRS Trust Service is now part of the OpenSRS API and the current TPP API for SSL and DNS is being deprecated to allow for easier integration of Trust Services using a single OpenSRS API.
• We’re rolling out a brand new control panel for the Trust Service with enhanced usability and function. We’ll be moving the Domain Service and Email Service to this new single control panel over the next little bit.

New VeriSign Malware Scanning and Trust Seal, and GeoTrust Unlimited Server Licenses

We’re also adding a couple of new products and services to the Trust Service. As of today, all VeriSign SSL certificates purchased through the Trust Service will now include malware scanning and a new Trust Seal that will give further assurance to site visitors that they can trust the security of the website they are using. The malware scanning and trust seal are included at no additional cost. We’re also bringing unlimited server licenses to all GeoTrust SSL products – one GeoTrust SSL certificate can now be installed on as many servers as required.

More Information

We have lots more information available about both the Trust Service, and also the changes to the OpenSRS API.

• OpenSRS Trust Service
• Trust Service Documentation
• Getting started with the Trust Manager (new control panel)
• NEW! Learn about how selling SSL & Trust Service is easier than ever in our webinar.

A complete price list for SSL products available to be sold through OpenSRS is available here.

All OpenSRS Resellers are able to sell SSL certificates from GeoTrust, thawte and VeriSign. If you haven’t sold SSL through OpenSRS before, there’s nothing you need to do to get started – it’s included and enabled on your Reseller account automatically. Take a look at the documentation for our SSL Service for more information on how to sell and provision SSL through both the Reseller Web Interface as well as via the API. Reseller Support is also just a phone call or email away.

The comparison looked at the Alexa 1 Million and counted publically facing SSL certificates. They found over 35,000 GeoTrust SSL certificates amongst the 165,000 total certificates found. GeoTrust led all certificate authorities, with the nearest competitor alomost 10,000 certificates behind.

GeoTrust points to the data as proof that more users look to GeoTrust as the low-cost SSL certificate provider of choice to secure and encrypt data transmitted over the Internet.

With increasing competition in the low-end of the SSL market, GeoTrust continues to provide cost-effective solutions for a variety of different requirements. From QuickSSL, through True BusinessID with or without Extended Validation, there is a GeoTrust-branded certificate to satisfy any buyer.

If you have an OpenSRS Reseller account, then you are also automatically able to sell SSL certificates from GeoTrust (and also thawte and VeriSign). For more information visit our GeoTrust SSL information page.

Sell the most trusted brand online

VeriSign SecureSite, SecureSite with Extended Validation (EV) and SecureSite Pro SSL certificates were reduced in price anywhere from $10 to $90 depending on the specific certificate and term length.

The full OpenSRS SSL Certificate price chart has been updated to reflect the new costs.

We were really pleased to have Bob Angus, Product Marketing Manager at VeriSign join us via the web to present “Get the Sale: Overcoming Four Common Objections When Selling SSL”.

Bob provided some really good, practical tactics and strategies that will help you sell smarter and move more SSL units.

He covered everything from how to figure out whether the potential customer is ready to buy, to how to use some basic stats and resources to sell EV and other higher margin SSL products.

Based on the lively Q&A session that followed, it was clear that our Resellers are hungry to sell more and are looking for the tools that they can use to do just that. Bob’s presentation provided some of those tools and tactics, and attendees went away equiped with at least two or three things that they could put to immediate use to counter competitors and tackle those common questions buyers might have.

Archive Video is Available Now

We did record the entire session including an informative question and answer session. That video and the accompanying PDF of the presentation slides is available now.

→ View the archive

(if you registered for the event at GotoWebinar, you should already have received the link to the archived version via email).

One of the things we hear over and over again, is that it’s nearly impossible to sell SSL certificates in the face of companies like GoDaddy who seem to be more interested in moving as many units as possible, at the expense of the bottom line. But it’s simply not true–with the right information and techniques, you can effectively sell SSL by easily countering some common objections customers might have.

2010 is fast approaching and now is the time to start thinking about how to energize your SSL sales. And don’t forget that our GeoTrust $199 Extended Validation (EV) SSL Certificate promo is coming to an end soon as well. End 2009 with a bang and kickstart your SSL sales activities heading into the new year.

Get the Sale!

Bob Angus, Product Marketing Manager, VeriSign, will present “Get the Sale! Overcoming four common objections when selling SSL.” Bob will address the four most common objections that you’ll face when selling SSL certificates, provide you with the information that you need to address each one head on, and help you make the sale.

He’ll cover everything from objections over price, to how to handle questions about technology from customers who may have bought into some common misconceptions about SSL. In short, Bob will arm you with information and tactics that you can use when selling SSL to even the most sceptical of customers.

This is a free event for OpenSRS Resellers.

Details:

REGISTRATION IS FREE
What: Get the Sale! Overcoming four common objections when selling SSL
When: Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 at 11:00 A.M. EST (16:00 UTC)

Through the end of 2009, GeoTrust True BusinessID with EV certs are just $199 from OpenSRS. That’s a little less than half of the regular price for a GeoTrust EV cert.

This exceptional price will be in effect through the end 2009 and applies to new cert orders and renewals.

There’s a huge opportunity here to bring EV certs to your customers at a price that is not much more than a standard, non-EV cert. It’s also a great time for you to add the green bar to your own website and lead by example.

By the way, if you are an OpenSRS Reseller and you haven’t been selling digital certificates, this is a great chance to make a splash with your customer base by adding a full range of SSL products to your lineup along with a huge deal on EV SSL from GeoTrust.

More to come

We rushed this promo out the door so you could start taking advantage of the huge savings as soon as possible. Over the next little bit, we’ll be pushing out some marketing materials for that will help you when selling these EV certs to your customers.

There’s more details in the SSL section of our website, including a complete product list with pricing.

For those who missed the webinar, we had intended to record and archive it for viewing, but thanks to a technical snafu, that recording failed, which absolutely stinks because it was probably the greatest webinar ever given (well, maybe not the greatest). My deepest apologies to those who were counting on that archive.

We do have Jay’s slides available as a PDF download, as well as a package of seven SSL whitepapers that VeriSign has put together for your use in marketing SSL products to your customers. Those whitepapers are brandable by you – all the information on what you need to do is contained in the download.

SSL – For more than eCommerce

Jay made some excellent points during his presentation. He explained the value of SSL from a security perspective, and highlighted some of the use cases for SSL. One of the points he made from a marketing perspective was to make sure that you point out that SSL certificates are applicable for more than just e-commerce sites. Anywhere that there is a login (including forums, blogs, customer portals, wikis) can and should be protected by by an SSL cert.

Three brands, pick two

Jay also broke down how to market the various brands of certs available through OpenSRS. We recently launched new SSL products, including SSL certs from VeriSign, thawte and GeoTrust.

Jay pointed out that it’s best to offer two of the three brands – choose between thawte and GeoTrust (for those customers looking for a lower cost cert) and then add VeriSign for those customers looking for that higher end brand.

When choosing between thawte and GeoTrust, it really comes down to a few points. First, if you are already offering GeoTrust, stick with it and just add VeriSign to your mix, if desired. Jay says that thawte has a strong brand presence in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, thanks to its South African corporate heritage. GeoTrust is well known in North America and parts of Asia.

Use and offer EV

Jay also talked about Extended Validation (EV) certs and the importance of both using EV certs for your own sites, where it makes sense, but also about the increasing recognition of the “green bar” that EV facilitates amongst Internet users. The EV cert offers a level of trust to Internet users that is a step above a ‘normal’ domain or organization validated SSL certificate.

We thank all those who attended the webinar, and we hope you found the content useful and applicable for your own business. Thanks also to our friends at VeriSign – and specifically Jay – for putting together such a great presentation.

Verisign SSL Webinar Slides