Typical patch reports often include technical jargon, like KB numbers or update categories, that could confuse non-technical stakeholders. As such, it falls on Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to present an easy-to-digest patch management report.
When delivered poorly, patch reports can become noise with little to no value. Reframing reports in plain business language enables MSPs to illustrate how patching reduces ransomware risks and averts exploits.
Crafting patch management reports that clients appreciate and trust
MSPs should deliver patch management reports that are both comprehensible and valuable. To help clients better understand these reports, they must emphasize coverage metrics, convert technical data into business insights, use visual summaries, highlight business outcomes, and standardize report delivery.
📌 Prerequisites:
- Centralized patching and reporting system
- Defined patching policy and compliance thresholds
- Agreement on reporting cadence
- Templates for client-facing documents
Step 1: Focus on compliance and coverage metrics
This step ensures MSPs highlight effectiveness and value without overwhelming clients with details.
📌 Use Case: A healthcare provider that must adhere to HIPAA regulations needs to know how well its endpoints are secured. Instead of listing thousands of individual updates, a report showing patch coverage across critical systems provides immediate visibility into compliance and risk reduction.
Clients would want to see the following:
Percentage of devices patched successfully
This metric shows overall compliance and demonstrates that the client’s infrastructure is covered and protected.
Breakdown of critical vs. optional updates
Breaking down the difference between the two updates helps clients understand where risk is mitigated most effectively. Distinguish high-priority patches (such as security vulnerabilities) and less urgent updates.
Exceptions noted with justification
Document devices or systems excluded from patching and provide the reason for exclusion. This metric also shows transparency and builds trust with clients.
Presenting these metrics ensures MSPs help clients understand the security posture of their environment and feel confident that compliance requirements are being met.
⚠️ Warning: Validate data with multiple sources to avoid inaccurate coverage reporting. (For more info, refer to: Things to look out for)
Step 2: Translate technical data into business risk language
This step ensures clients grasp why patch management data matters, not just what was done.
📌 Use Case: Consider a financial services firm with strict regulatory oversight. Instead of presenting a table of patch deployment percentages, show how those patches directly reduce exposure to ransomware and regulatory fines.
Reframe patch data into outcomes clients understand:
- “98% of endpoints are fully patched.” → “Your exposure to ransomware and zero-day attacks has been significantly reduced.”
- “15 devices deferred updates.” → “These systems pose a higher risk. We recommend prioritizing refresh or exception approval.”
This step also ensures reports are accessible, impactful, and actionable for stakeholders.
Step 3: Use visual summaries instead of raw tables
Visual summaries transform technical data into simple insights that show progress, gaps, and trends without overwhelming detail.
📌 Use Case: A mid-sized law firm, for instance, may not have the time or expertise to parse detailed patch logs. However, a dashboard with compliance percentages and a red-yellow-green status display allows their leadership to understand where risks exist.
Pie charts for compliance rates
Show the devices patched successfully vs. the ones pending to make coverage clear and easy to digest.
Traffic-light dashboards for device health
Use visual cues to give an at-a-glance risk overview. For example:
- Green = Healthy
- Yellow = Partial
- Red = At-risk
Trend graphs for progress over time
Show patch success rates month over month to showcase improvement, consistency, or areas that need focus.
⚠️ Warning: Pair visuals with short explanations to provide needed context. (For more info, refer to: Things to look out for)
Step 4: Highlight business outcomes and risk prevention
This step connects patch management activities to business outcomes, enabling MSPs to demonstrate value beyond technical work.
📌 Use Case: Take a retail chain that must comply with PCI DSS. Instead of only reporting that critical patches were deployed, the MSP can show how those patches ensured PCI compliance and minimized the risk of costly downtime during peak sales periods.
Compliance evidence for auditors
Provide transparent reporting aligned with frameworks for smoother audits, demonstrating proactive compliance.
Reduced downtime through proactive patching
Highlight how patching closed vulnerabilities before they cause outages and loss in productivity.
Examples of critical threats avoided
Highlight high-risk vulnerabilities that have been patched before attackers could take advantage to reinforce the value of patch management.
Step 5: Standardize report delivery
Standardizing report structure and delivery ensures clients receive clear, professional, and comparable updates.
📌 Use Case: For example, an MSP supporting multiple industries may have clients ranging from healthcare providers to financial firms. Using a consistent reporting template with business-friendly language, the MSP ensures clients understand their patching posture and progress.
Consistent report templates
Make reports easier for clients to interpret by applying a standardized format, highlighting compliance metrics, risk reduction, and visual summaries.
Business-friendly summaries
Lead with plain-language takeaways instead of technical jargon to ensure stakeholders at all levels can understand the results.
Set delivery cadence
Align report delivery with Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) or set a fixed monthly/quarterly schedule.
⚠️ Warning: Deliver on a fixed cadence to avoid inconsistent or late delivery. (For more info, refer to: Things to look out for)
Best practices when delivering a patch management report
The following table summarizes the best practices when delivering patch management reports:
| Practice | Value delivered |
| Compliance coverage focus | Shows patching effectiveness clearly |
| Business-risk translation | Connects patching to security outcomes |
| Visual summaries | Makes reports easy to read and impactful |
| Highlight outcomes | Reinforces value beyond technical work |
| Standardized templates | Scales reporting across multiple clients |
⚠️ Things to look out for
| Risks | Potential Consequences | Reversals |
| Inaccurate coverage reporting | Potential loss of client trust | Validate data with multiple sources |
| Overreliance on visuals without context | Overlooked vulnerabilities | Pair visuals with concise explanations |
| Inconsistent or late delivery | Clients may doubt MSP’s reliability | Deliver on fixed cadence (QBRs, monthly) |
NinjaOne solutions that enhance patch management reporting
MSPs can use NinjaOne to perform the following tasks.
Automating patching across Windows, macOS, and third-party apps
This feature supports comprehensive patch management across multiple operating systems and uses policy-based configurations to automate patch deployment.
Generating patch compliance reports for each client
Provides detailed patch compliance dashboards and offers system-wide and device-level tracking of patch status.
Storing report templates in Docs for consistent delivery
This platform offers consistent reporting mechanisms and provides standardized patch reporting views across devices and organizations.
Automating reminders to include patch metrics in QBRs
It offers AI-powered patch intelligence, providing comprehensive insights into patches along with detailed sentiment analysis.
Showing patch exceptions tied to tickets to provide accountability
This feature supports manual patch approval or rejection processes while also tracking patch overrides at both policy and global levels.
Enhance patch management reports for clients
A patch management report should prove the MSP’s value beyond merely listing updates. MSPs can offer greater value from patch data by emphasizing compliance metrics, interpreting technical results in terms of risk, and presenting reports visually.
Related topics:
- How to Report on Patch Failure Root Causes Without a Dedicated Analytics Tool
- How to Visualize Patch Compliance and System Health Across All Clients
- How to Use Power Automate to Simplify MSP Workflows
- Top 5 MSP Strategies for Using Your QBR as a Sales Tool
- Moving Beyond Troubleshooting, IT Reports Best Practices
