As your IT network grows, it will adopt vast amounts of software that will have updates regularly offered. These increase the software’s effectiveness and tackle weak points that open the door to cybercriminals.
However, most organisations fail to patch in a timely fashion, with 25% of businesses failing to patch a given software. Within a month and a further 25% failing to do so outright.
Patch management software can reduce the time taken for your business to patch programs. This is why you should introduce it to your systems.
What is Patch Management?
A survey conducted by Tripwire has found that even IT professionals are bad at patching, as half of their participants admitted that they routinely fail to keep up with required patches.
Patch management rectifies this issue by taking the task out of human hands, tracking patches as they are released, and automatically install them.
Patch management software also works within what you require of your systems. While most patches are minor, installing them across your entire system can temporarily bring your network out of operation.
Most patch management software deal with this issue through customisable scheduling, whereby you can dictate precisely when patches will take place to minimise disruption.
Why does my Business need Patch Management?
An increasing number of malicious attacks target vulnerabilities in apps. Patch management ensures your apps are updated in a timely manner and improves the security of your IT systems.
Most patches are brought in to fix vulnerabilities within the software that cybercriminals have begun to exploit, and failing to keep up with patches leaves open goals for them.
A survey conducted in 2016 found that 81% of breaches occur because businesses fail to conduct timely patching, and therefore you can solve many of your business’s security issues by installing patches.
Failing to keep up with patches can also put your business into legal hot water. The onus is on you to ensure that your software is up-to-date, and falling behind could lead customers to become concerned about your data’s safety, raising compliance issues against you. To prevent costly legal disputes, you should utilize patch management software.
Furthermore, patches are not only about protecting your business but also improving the functionality of the software by introducing new features. Patch management software will ensure that these innovative features will be simultaneously rolled out across your system, and your staff can use them in conjunction.
These more significant patches can cause difficulties should new features require a disproportionate time to learn. IT support services like MicroPro, and many similar patch management solutions use advanced software that can update patches from a remoter location.
This enables you to secure your entire business network and endpoints seamless with very little disruption – if any at all.
Moving your Business Forward with Patch Management
IT services are developing at a tremendous rate, with unprecedented improvements to functionality and security coming into effect all the time. Keeping up is a necessity to sustain growth in all competitive industries. Invest in patch management software to ensure your business protect sensitive data in worrying times.
