Over the last few years, automated patch management tools have emerged to take this pressure off administrators and to improve the overall efficiency of downloading and installing patches across different devices. Such a process-oriented approach will also make it easy to follow some of the best practices of patch management. Instead, they should go through a process laid down by the organization. Though these steps may vary, the larger point is the updates should not be installed as they become available. Validate the successful deployment of the downloaded patches in a testing environment and check for any incompatibilities or performance issues.Īpply the patch across the entire organization, if no issues were uncovered during the testing phase.Ĭreate detailed documentation and reports about patch download, testing and installation for auditing and compliance. Scan the network and devices on a regular basis to identify vulnerabilities and missing patches. Here are some keys steps to developing an up-to-date inventory of the existing devices: In fact, every tool should follow a detailed set of steps to ensure that the end result is economical, efficient and effective. Installing the latest updates is not the most effective process of patch management.
