Only DuoKey
- 24/7 support with SLA response times
- Evaluation or trial licence
- Decrypt authorized by Entra ID groups
- Multi-tenant and partner (B2B) tenants
- Fine-grained administrator RBAC
- Quorum (four-eyes) approval
- Contextual access on key use
- Built-in monitoring dashboard
- Block rules that override allows
- Tamper-evident audit log
- Optional mTLS on decrypt calls
- Built-in end-to-end key test
- Multi-site or geo-redundant deployment
- Key backup and recovery procedure
- Rotation without a new Purview label
- Vendor-hosted DKE service (SaaS)
- Automatic Entra ID app registration
- No end-of-life runtime or OS
- FIPS 140 Level 3 key storage
- Key never assembled in one place
- Vendor ISO/IEC 27001 certified
- Customer chooses the hosting region
Feature by feature
DuoKey and Cosmian, side by side
Vendor and support
124/7 support with SLA response times
Round-the-clock support with contractual response times for critical incidents.
Microsoft DKE coverage
3Native Microsoft 365 DKE endpoint
Serves the Microsoft GetKey and Decrypt calls used by Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
4Decrypt authorized by Entra ID groups
The key service itself restricts decryption to members of directory groups or roles.
5Multi-tenant and partner (B2B) tenants
One key service shared with several Entra ID tenants or external partners.
Administration and access control
6Admin SSO and MFA
Administrators sign in through the corporate identity provider with multi-factor authentication.
7Fine-grained administrator RBAC
Custom roles and permissions scoped to keys, services or organisational units.
8Quorum (four-eyes) approval
Sensitive key operations need approval from several administrators.
Monitoring
10Audit logs exported to a SIEM
Key and admin events forwarded to Splunk, Sentinel, QRadar or syslog.
11Built-in monitoring dashboard
Health and usage dashboard shipped with the product.
12SNMP monitoring
SNMP polling or traps for the operations team.
Zero Trust and audit
28Access rules changed live
DKE access rules are edited in a UI or API and apply at once, without config files or redeployment.
29Block rules that override allows
Explicit deny rules to cut decrypt access for a user, group, network or country during an incident.
30Several identity providers
Entra ID plus Okta, Keycloak or other OIDC providers for sign-in and group-based rules.
31Tamper-evident audit log
Each audit record is signed or hash-chained, so edits and deletions are detectable.
32Optional mTLS on decrypt calls
A client-certificate check on DKE decrypt calls, on top of the Entra ID token.
33Built-in end-to-end key test
The key and backend are tested with a wrap/unwrap round-trip before the service goes live.
Availability and key lifecycle
13High-availability cluster
Active-active nodes so the key service survives a node failure.
14Multi-site or geo-redundant deployment
Survives the loss of a whole data centre.
15Key backup and recovery procedure
Documented backup and restore of keys after an incident.
16Old documents open after rotation
Content protected with a previous key version stays readable.
17Rotation without a new Purview label
Rotating the key does not require a new label or a relabelling campaign.
18Scheduled key rotation
Automatic rotation on a schedule.
Hosting and deployment
19Vendor-hosted DKE service (SaaS)
The vendor runs the DKE endpoint; nothing for the customer to host.
20On-premises option
Run the whole DKE stack inside your own perimeter.
21Automatic Entra ID app registration
The DKE app registration is created for you instead of manual portal steps.
Key storage, compliance and exit
23FIPS 140 Level 3 key storage
Keys protected by a FIPS 140-2 or 140-3 Level 3 validated module.
24Key never assembled in one place
Multi-Party Computation or threshold cryptography: no single node holds the whole key.
25Vendor ISO/IEC 27001 certified
The vendor's own operations are ISO/IEC 27001 certified.
26Customer chooses the hosting region
Pick where the key service and keys are hosted.
Why teams choose DuoKey
Key differences with Cosmian
01
Zero Trust beyond the token
Since Cosmian KMS 5.22 (May 2026) the DKE endpoints sit behind the KMS authentication stack: the Entra ID token is validated and per-user key grants apply. Rules stop there, with no group, IP, country or time conditions. DuoKey validates the token and then applies group, IP, country and time rules, with Block rules, to every decrypt.
02
Rotation without a new label
Cosmian's documented DKE rotation requires a new sensitivity label and moving users to it. DuoKey rotates without touching the label.
03
A service, not a server to run
Cosmian is self-hosted with manual Azure setup. DuoKey runs the DKE service, creates the app registration and supports partner tenants.
04
Coverage
Cosmian's DKE page limits support to Office for Windows and asks for co-authoring to stay off. DuoKey serves the standard Microsoft DKE protocol to all supported Microsoft 365 desktop apps.
What Cosmian does well
Cosmian's KMS is source-available, supports KMIP and standard key export formats, scales horizontally and exports audit logs to SIEMs. It suits teams that want to self-operate a French KMS.
FAQ
Is DuoKey an alternative to Cosmian for Microsoft 365 DKE?
Yes. DuoKey provides the customer-held second key and the DKE service that Microsoft 365 calls, operated by DuoKey or deployed on your own infrastructure.
Can I migrate from Cosmian to DuoKey?
Yes. Create a DuoKey DKE service and a sensitivity label for new content, and keep the existing Cosmian service running for documents already protected with it until they are re-labelled or reach the end of retention.
How were these criteria chosen?
They follow the sections of a customer DKE and key management RFP: support, Microsoft DKE coverage, administration, monitoring, availability, hosting, key storage and exit. Every cell links to the public document it is based on.
Evidence
Every claim on this page, sourced
Cosmian
- [1]github.comcriteria 1https://github.com/Cosmian/kms
- [2]docs.cosmian.comcriteria 2, 20https://docs.cosmian.com/key_management_system
- [3]docs.cosmian.comcriteria 3, 16, 17, 21https://docs.cosmian.com/key_management_system/integrations/cloud_providers/microsoft_365_double_key_encryption_dke/
- [4]github.comcriteria 4https://github.com/Cosmian/kms/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md
- [5]docs.cosmian.comcriteria 6, 30https://docs.cosmian.com/key_management_system/configuration/authentication.html
- [6]docs.cosmian.comcriteria 7, 8https://docs.cosmian.com/key_management_system/configuration/authorization/key_ceremony.html
- [7]github.comcriteria 9, 28, 29, 32https://github.com/Cosmian/kms/blob/main/crate/server/src/start_kms_server.rs
- [8]docs.cosmian.comcriteria 10https://docs.cosmian.com/key_management_system/configuration/siems.html
- [9]docs.cosmian.comcriteria 11https://docs.cosmian.com/key_management_system/configuration/monitoring-setup.html
- [10]docs.cosmian.comcriteria 31https://docs.cosmian.com/key_management_system/configuration/audit-logs.html
- [11]docs.cosmian.comcriteria 13, 15https://docs.cosmian.com/key_management_system/installation/high_availability_mode.html
- [12]docs.cosmian.comcriteria 18https://docs.cosmian.com/key_management_system/kmip_support/key_rotation/index.html
- [13]docs.cosmian.comcriteria 19, 26https://docs.cosmian.com/key_management_system/installation/marketplace_guide.html
- [14]docs.cosmian.comcriteria 22, 23https://docs.cosmian.com/key_management_system/certifications_and_compliance/fips.html
- [15]docs.cosmian.comcriteria 27https://docs.cosmian.com/key_management_system/kmip_support/formats.html
DuoKey
- [1]docs.duokey.comcriteria 1, 2https://docs.duokey.com/docs/why-mpc
- [2]docs.duokey.comcriteria 3https://docs.duokey.com/docs/double-key-encryption/cockpit-v2/overview
- [3]docs.duokey.comcriteria 4, 29https://docs.duokey.com/docs/double-key-encryption/cockpit-v2/access-policies
- [4]docs.duokey.comcriteria 5https://docs.duokey.com/docs/double-key-encryption/operations/b2b-collaboration
- [5]docs.duokey.comcriteria 6, 31https://docs.duokey.com/docs/cockpit/security
- [6]docs.duokey.comcriteria 7https://docs.duokey.com/docs/cockpit/administration
- [7]docs.duokey.comcriteria 8https://docs.duokey.com/docs/cockpit/key-policies
- [8]docs.duokey.comcriteria 9https://docs.duokey.com/docs/cockpit/access-policies
- [9]docs.duokey.comcriteria 10https://docs.duokey.com/docs/openshift-on-prem/security/compliance-audit
- [10]docs.duokey.comcriteria 11, 32, 33https://docs.duokey.com/docs/double-key-encryption/setup/dke-service-deployment
- [11]docs.duokey.comcriteria 28https://docs.duokey.com/docs/double-key-encryption/operations/zero-trust-access-control
- [12]docs.duokey.comcriteria 30https://docs.duokey.com/docs/developer/administration-api
- [13]docs.duokey.comcriteria 13https://docs.duokey.com/docs/openshift-on-prem/vm-deployment
- [14]docs.duokey.comcriteria 14https://docs.duokey.com/docs/openshift-on-prem/mpc-cluster
- [15]docs.duokey.comcriteria 15https://docs.duokey.com/docs/openshift-on-prem/operations/backup-recovery
- [16]docs.duokey.comcriteria 16, 17, 21https://docs.duokey.com/docs/double-key-encryption/cockpit-v2/dke-configuration
- [17]docs.duokey.comcriteria 19https://docs.duokey.com/docs/double-key-encryption/knowledgebase
- [18]docs.duokey.comcriteria 20, 22, 24https://docs.duokey.com/docs/openshift-on-prem/prerequisites
- [19]docs.duokey.comcriteria 23https://docs.duokey.com/docs/oracle-tde/overview
- [20]duokey.comcriteria 25https://duokey.com/en/compliance/iso-27001
- [21]docs.duokey.comcriteria 26https://docs.duokey.com/docs/double-key-encryption/faq
- [22]docs.duokey.comcriteria 27https://docs.duokey.com/docs/pkcs11-lib/function-coverage
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