The Hardest Part of Quantum Migration is Inventory

Organizations that begin quantum migration planning quickly discover that the hardest step is not adopting new algorithms. It is finding all the places where cryptography is used in the first place.

Cryptographic assets are scattered across infrastructure in ways that no single team fully understands:

• TLS certificates on load balancers, API gateways, and internal services
• Encryption keys for databases, object storage, and backup systems
• Signing keys for code deployment, container images, and CI/CD pipelines
• SSH keys, API tokens, and machine identity certificates
• Encrypted archives and compliance-mandated data retention stores

Before any algorithm migration can begin, organizations need a cryptographic inventory — a complete map of what is encrypted, with which algorithms, and where the keys are stored. This inventory is the foundation of any realistic migration plan.