Key points
- Automated patch management tools provide MSPs with efficient solutions to address workload and security vulnerabilities.
- Solutions range from basic update reminders to comprehensive systems handling all aspects of patch management.
- Centralized patch management and automation reduce the time and effort required to maintain security across client environments.
Patch management is essential for creating a secure and efficient enterprise IT environment. Companies without an effective patch management solution risk being breached by persistent cyberattacks or incurring costly production delays due to outdated or incompatible software.
That said, there are other reasons why timely updates to hardware and software are important. This post will explore these scenarios in this article, and take a closer look at the challenges enterprise IT and MSPs face when it comes to patch management.
Stay ahead of threats and vulnerabilities by automating patch management.
What is patch management?
A patch is a fix for a security vulnerability or bug in a software or firmware application. These are typical small updates to the code that evolves as software providers continuously work to fix issues in their product or plug security holes that were discovered after the product launched.
Patches can also provide users with a major update to the software’s version that can unlock new features or improve the user experience. Patching is often required to maintain compatibility between integrated software tools as they independently evolve.
Meanwhile, patch management is the process of tracking updates and ensuring that software and hardware are secure and up to date. Ideally, this iterative process should be efficient and timely, while at the same time minimizing compatibility issues, errors, and downtime.
What is a patch management policy?
A patch management policy is a documented approach to handling patching as established by an organization or their IT team. A robust patch management policy allows an organization to roll out patches efficiently and as quickly as possible. The steps involved include detecting which components in the system require a patch, prioritizing their updates, and validating the patches to ensure that they are compatible with the rest of the environment to minimize downtime.
It’s important that organizations have a patch management policy in place as the number of software vulnerabilities being exploited by hackers continues to climb. A patch management policy should address and document the following areas:
- Detecting and scheduling
- Prioritization
- Testing
- Assignment of roles and points of contact
- Patch deployment
- Tracking, monitoring, and reporting
Further along in this article, we’ll discuss automated patch management tools. These solutions and services can considerably lighten the burden of managing updates by streamlining or automating most of the above list of policy concerns.
Why is patch management important for MSPs?
Even though the number of annual cyberattacks keeps rising, the risks can be largely avoided with the proper precautions. Mistakes happen, and security oversight is often lacking, which makes it easier for hackers to take advantage of common vulnerabilities. With an effective patch management policy or system in place, this risk can be mitigated before it leads to costly breaches.
Effective patch management will also help you face these security challenges:
- Proper coordination in security measures taken by IT and other departments
- Regulatory compliance and maintaining cybersecurity insurance
- Automation of the security channel
- Protection of mission-critical technology systems
In addition to shoring up your security, patches often give you access to new or improved software features that you may otherwise miss out on. Not to mention that failing to update integrated software can lead to compatibility issues as two disparate applications fail to connect properly.
Patch management as a service or through a tool is beneficial because it saves small business owners and their employees a considerable amount of time. Lacking the right tools, small business owners would need to dedicate their time to seeking out vulnerabilities and ensuring that all patches are found, run, and tested as soon as they are made available.
These gaps force businesses to shift their attention away from more pressing needs, which is an outcome that managed service providers are adamant about avoiding. The automated nature of a patch management tool, on the other hand, ensures that devices are adequately protected without sacrificing valuable time on routine tasks.
5 key challenges you can overcome with patch management
Without the right tools, IT teams would need to manually seek out vulnerabilities and ensure that all patches are found, run, and tested as soon as they are made available. This approach can create a few unnecessary challenges.
Patching is time-consuming
It can be daunting to continually identify and assess vulnerabilities, download and test patches, and then deploy the patches to their systems. The biggest hurdle for end users is finding out if there is an update available in the first place. While Microsoft famously has Patch Tuesday, most software companies don’t adhere to such a system.
Think about how many applications the average company uses. It could be anywhere from 20 – 50 tools depending on the business, and much more for large enterprises. Now assume that each one of those application developers issues a patch every 2-3 weeks (and not on a schedule). That’s a lot of updates to keep up with and a lot of time spent tracking them down.
Lack of IT inventory control
Some IT environments can be patched together in a ragtag fashion. But this is more of a problem with self-managed small business IT than anything managed by an MSP. When that’s the case, there’s often a lack of inventory management, so there’s no running record of which devices are running what software. This can lead to obvious problems when trying to patch dozens of different machines.
No desire to deploy every patch
Some users will confront the patch challenge head-on, but most will simply look to cut corners by only installing the most critical patches. The problem is that it’s hard for an end user to know which patches are actually critical. Inevitably, an important security update will be missed.
Patch failures
Occasionally, an update will cause downtime. This can be due to a failed download or corrupted file, human error, or some sort of compatibility issue. The only real way to avoid this entirely is to test all updates first in a test environment.
Vulnerability management
One patch is never enough. Once a vulnerability is closed off with an update, there’s surely another update coming down the road. In fact, some updates have even created new vulnerabilities that then need to be themselves patched. It happens. The point is that patch management is never over. It’s a game of catch-up that anyone familiar with cybersecurity should be very familiar with.
These are just a few of the recurring issues IT teams face. For a deeper look at the most pressing patching challenges in today’s enterprise environments, check out our Top 10 Patch Management Challenges video.
Patch management tools and solutions for MSPs
Manual patching is impractical for MSPs managing multiple clients. Automated patch management tools streamline the process, addressing workload and security vulnerabilities efficiently. Some features to look out for in a patch management solution include:
- Prioritization and scheduling to deploy critical patches first and during off-peak hours to minimize disruption.
- Centralized deployment to push updates to all endpoints from a single dashboard, reducing manual effort.
- Testing and rollback features to validate patches in staging environments and revert if issues arise.
- Comprehensive reporting to track patch status, compliance, and exceptions for audits and client transparency.
- Automated scanning and monitoring to detect missing patches and vulnerabilities across all client environments.
Patch management software and tools are built to tackle the different steps in the patch management process in efficient ways. They perform tasks like scanning, monitoring, alerting, prioritizing, deploying, testing, and reporting with little to no manual intervention required.
Protect your IT environment with fast, reliable patch deployment.
Choosing a patch management solution
The best patch management solution will vary depending on the size of the organization that will be using it. A large enterprise with complex IT architecture and multiple teams that support it will need a more feature-rich and configurable patch management solution than a small to medium business.
On that note, these considerations must always be balanced against efficacy, however. The most automated and cost-effective solution isn’t very useful if it can’t perform the task it’s designed for.
At the end of the day, MSPs choose purpose-built tools like NinjaOne because it’s not only simple but reliable enough to stake their business’ reputation on. Add to this the benefit of having multiple important RMM and security tools accessible from one dashboard and the choice to partner with NinjaOne becomes self-evident.
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