Let's face it: no one likes patching. When I was a practitioner, we always put off patching until it was absolutely necessary. Until a business need – such as updating an application version or support ending for a version – arose, we didn't patch because "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." We all know this is a bad practice; let's remind ourselves why. The longer a system goes without being patched, the more changes will accumulate.

There is no escape from the need for patch management and updates. It is true that operating systems and software vendors are getting better, faster, and more efficient about how they make and deploy patches. However, for businesses, patch management remains a time-consuming necessity that has big impacts on security, compliance, and day-to-day operations for IT teams and the businesses they serve.

Patch management best practices ensure we do patch deployment effectively and in time to prevent significant data losses, cybersecurity attacks, and other risks when the software is not updated. Patch management is an essential part of IT Asset Management. In short, it consists of distributing and applying updates or software patches. It should be a well-established and thorough process to handle any vulnerability and other issues. This article will discuss these best practices.

Patch management is the process of acquiring and applying updates to software. This is an essential part of IT Asset Management. A patch manager controls the deployment of updates to operating systems and other applications on the network. In this article we will cover the following topics: If you want to learn the key aspects of patch management and the benefits it brings along to organization, then this is the article for you.

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Patching devices, whether you’re an internal IT team or an MSP, is something that takes time, costs money, and honestly isn’t a particularly pleasant job. Different products do different jobs at patching, but no matter what you use, you should always make sure you patch in a timely manner. If we go back ten years, it used to take upwards of 30 days for people to exploit security vulnerabilities, but in recent years, we’ve seen that decrease to 15 days.

Data breaches and ransomware attacks are increasing exponentially. The number of data breaches reported per year has increased nearly 70% in the past five years. Eighty-five percent of IT decision makers report having suffered at least one ransomware attack over the same period. Organizations that fall victim to these breaches and attacks experience system downtime, damaged reputations, IP loss and other ill effects that lead to lost business.

When it comes to the world of IT, many things can go wrong on devices and with software. These imperfections can often result in security risks and vulnerabilities, so patches are applied to fix any defects. Patch management consists of managing the identification and remediation of these vulnerabilities in your IT environment. Patching is one of the most important components when it comes to managing IT vulnerabilities, so it is crucial to have an effective patch management policy in place.