What is Patch Management?
Patch management is the process of installing (and managing) the latest patches - code changes which improve the system or fix security vulnerabilities — on various systems within a network. Tasks like deciding what patches are appropriate for systems, ensuring these patches are installed properly, testing systems after installation all fall under patch management. The objective of patch management is to keep systems in a network up-to-date and secure against various kinds of hacking and malware.
IT Force offer patch management under our managed services offering. Servers, end-point devices, database servers and firewalls are all included in our patching service.
The introduction of vulnerabilities from unpatched IT assets, unmanaged devices, or insecure coding practices are ever-present challenges that require a proactive response. We provide your organisation with both the strategy and tools necessary to identify, remediate and maintain secure configurations is key.
Patch Management — Benefits:
Some of the benefits of patch management are:
Security
Security is the most obvious benefit offered by patch management, as software vendors most often release patches to fix security vulnerabilities which are being exploited by malicious software or people intending to damage the IT systems or network. Applying these security patches at the right time will greatly reduce security breaches of various kinds.
Productivity
Another major benefit of patch management is increased productivity. Often patches come with performance improvements for the products to which they are applied or they fix crashes. Helping employees (their systems to be more precise) get rid of these issues will lead to a productivity boost. This, in turn, means reduced downtime.
In Possession of the Latest
The world of technology is moving at a fast pace. Having an automated patch management software in place will help your organisation keep up with the latest advancements in the technology without you having to do much about it because software patches usually contain new features or functionality and extend support to additional platforms.
Many organisations have a mixed platform environment, along with a plethora of 3rd party applications, all of which, dependant on their position in the network, require timely deployments of security or configuration updates. Having the necessary tools to provide both the visibility of state and required levels of automation in these mixed environments is certainly a challenge, even with some of the most advanced software deployment tools that may already be in place.
So whether you are looking at redefining your patch management strategy for your business or considering the use of other best of breed patch management, IT Force can help. We can work with you to define your security requirements and leveraging our extensive knowledge of security solutions in the market, and first-hand implementation experience, we can help provide guidance on evaluation and implementation for a range of solutions.