In order to generate digital certificates and create digital signatures you have to use a certificate authority (CA) system. There are several different options available to companies desiring to have the ability to create their own certificates. They could purchase their own system to use in-house, use a CA as a managed service or use a shared CA solution.
All Certificate Authority System Solutions Provide Similar Functions
Regardless of which solution your organizations uses for their certificate authority system, all CA systems function similarly. Users can request a digital certificate or digital signature using the required processes. Your appointed CA manager has the ability to review the requests and approve or deny them. For the ones approved, they go about following the processes needed to create and issue the certificate. Once it is created the certificate may be retrieved by the user through a secure connection with the instruction they receive in an email message.