Patching endpoints is one of the most important, but also one of the most time-consuming activities of IT departments. Automation solutions reduce the effort considerably, but not every tool delivers what it promises. Five features that provide real relief.
Patching often feels like Sisyphean work for IT departments, especially updating third-party applications. There are usually a few dozen of these in the company, which causes a veritable flood of patches. Each one has to be tested on different systems and then gradually rolled out to thousands of computers - this is hardly possible without patch automation.
Endpoint security is key
Flexible automation from start to finish
Not everything that says patch automation is actually patch automation. Some vendors only provide patch metadata and a plug-in for Microsoft Endpoint Manager. However, a proper automation solution allows the entire patching process to be automated from start to finish. Above all, it is important to be able to create different templates with individual test scenarios, rollout phases, configurations and deployment options for different endpoints, user groups and applications. Ideally, the solution comes with ready-made templates that can be quickly adapted and used.
Real-time visibility and AI support
It is impossible for IT departments to manually control the status of all endpoints. They need clear and customizable dashboards that provide them with detailed insights – not just into the general device status, but into the various applications and their version status, the progress of patch distribution, and successful or failed installations, all in real time. This is the only way to prevent vulnerabilities from remaining unpatched unnoticed and giving cybercriminals a gateway. Good solutions for patch automation also use AI to show potential for optimizing patch strategies and improving patch efficiency.
Prioritization of critical patches
IT departments need to apply patches for critical vulnerabilities and zero-day leaks quickly, but this is often difficult for them. In 43 percent of the companies, the rollout takes at least a week, which is far too long, since the vulnerabilities are often already being exploited. An automation solution that the second a critical patch is released, prioritizes it, automatically distributes it via the preferred template, and ensures its successful installation on all systems is worth its weight in gold in such situations.
Intelligent software distribution
In large and distributed organizations, rolling out patches can present some difficulties. Be it because the transmission of data packets to thousands of endpoints outside the central network puts a heavy load on the WAN and VPN lines or because the connections to remote workers are sometimes narrow and unstable. Many transfers fail as a result, and even patching solutions that rely on Microsoft Endpoint Manager (MEM) rarely have a 100 percent success rate. Companies should therefore rely on solutions that distribute software intelligently - for example via P2P infrastructures or intelligent use of bandwidth - and are compatible with MEM, but not dependent on it. This allows them to improve patching processes without jeopardizing investments made or existing workloads.
"Set and forget" functionality
While many patch automation solutions reduce human intervention somewhat, they are essential. Good solutions act autonomously after IT departments have defined the basic patch strategies. As soon as a patch is available, they select the appropriate template for testing and distribution and take over the rollout fully automatically. IT departments do not have to intervene at any point in the process and can concentrate on important IT and transformation projects.
"Many IT departments can no longer keep up with patching and are skipping individual patches or forgoing extensive testing," reports Jeannine Balsiger, Sales Director Major Accounts at Adaptiva. “A patch automation solution can do most of the work for them, provided it actually automates the entire patching process, from identifying newly available patches to testing and deploying them across the enterprise. And that is individually controlled according to risk, endpoint type, user group or application, because a one-size-fits-all approach is unsuitable for patch distribution.”
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About Adaptiva
Adaptiva provides serverless endpoint management that eliminates the need for extensive IT infrastructure. The system monitors itself by automating previously manual tasks. Leveraging innovative peer-to-peer protocols, the Adaptiva Edge Platform utilizes the excess capacity of devices already on the network - in the office or when working from home.