Patch management is like painting or gardening: At first glance, it may seem like routine and straightforward work. But in practice, it can prove much more challenging than it looks. Just as lack of prep work can spell disaster for a paint job, or forgetting to water and weed regularly can turn your garden into an eyesore, software patching mistakes may severely hamper your ability to carry out what should be the simple task of keeping apps up-to-date.
Keep reading for a look at the most common patch management oversights I’ve encountered in my career as an IT director, along with tips on how organizations can avoid them.
Not having a patching strategy
Probably the most common software patching mistake is lacking a coherent patching strategy.
Lack of strategy doesn’t mean that patching doesn’t happen at all. It means that patching occurs in an ad hoc fashion, without clear guidelines in place about when, how and how often an organization will apply patches.
To avoid this mistake, develop a clear set of patching controls and policies that define how your team will approach patching. Your strategy should reflect your capabilities and limitations; for example, smaller IT departments may not be able to apply every patch as quickly as it appears, so their strategies should identify which types of apps or patches they will prioritize.
Even if your patching strategy doesn’t include all of the practices that it would if you had unlimited resources, simply developing a plan that all stakeholders – IT leaders, practitioners and business executives – can support and lays the foundation for effective patching.
Not leveraging patch automation
There are many ways to automate ..
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