Windows Patch Management Solution

By definition, patch management is the process of updating computers and various network components to mitigate security breaches. It is a comprehensive process that incorporates identifying vulnerabilities due to missing patches and addressing critical updates first.

Patching is a fix related to correcting errors in a computer program or software. However, when such errors remain without repair, your infrastructure becomes vulnerable to countless cyberattacks, which can ultimately compromise your company’s data.

Therefore, you should proactively identify issues in your systems and network and deploy patches to update and remove bugs regularly.

Windows Update is Microsoft’s built-in service that downloads patches directly from the tech giant’s servers and delivers them to your endpoints. It works great for home users, but it’s not an adequate choice for businesses because it lacks centralized control.

WSUS, as most of you know, gives you pretty decent control over approving, testing, and deploying updates from an on-premises server. Businesses around the world used it for many years as a primary patch management tool, but it has many downsides, like requiring on-premises infrastructure, ongoing maintenance, and the ability to patch only software inside Microsoft’s catalog—nothing beyond that (third-party apps and other OSes).

Modern patch management platforms like Action1 are cloud-native, agent-based, and offer end-to-end automation from vulnerability identification to remediation and audit-ready report generation. With such software, you get flexible scheduling, testing features, cross-OS and third-party application support, risk-based prioritization, and multiple security features. Simply put, you get enterprise-grade control without enterprise-grade complexity.

Choose a patch management software that automatically detects vulnerabilities across your on-premises and remote endpoints, identifies missing patches, and deploys updates without manual work from your side beyond the initial setup and scheduling. Look for a platform that is cloud-native, offers you end-to-end automation, has third-party application support, requires no VPN connectivity to manage your endpoints, and gives you full control over each step of the patching process.

Don’t overlook the operational essentials like flexible policy settings, reboot options, a private software repository that supports custom application patching, and advanced reporting capabilities that allow you to generate audit-ready compliance reports in seconds. Last but not least, security features like MFA, RBAC, and SSO should also be a must on your list.

Use a third-party patch management platform that offers flexible scheduling and staged, risk-free, autonomous update deployments. This allows you to roll out patches outside business hours and create groups of endpoints (rings), where predefined success metrics ensure only reliable patches meeting these criteria automatically advance to the next stage, while problematic ones don’t. This approach minimizes the risk of disrupting users or critical workloads.

To avoid downtime risks when deploying updates or patches across their network, IT teams should first test them in a controlled environment, such as a small group of endpoints, before advancing to an organization-wide rollout. This step is necessary because it will clearly show if a particular patch is stable or problematic before it reaches business-critical endpoints and starts the domino effect.

Action1, for instance, offers update rings that enable phased and autonomous patch rollouts, advancing updates from inner to outer rings based on success metrics. Qualified patches move forward automatically, reducing downtime risk while ensuring timely vulnerability remediation.

Automated patching can’t entirely prevent zero-day exploits; in fact, there is still no such software invented in the world. By definition, these vulnerabilities are unknown until they’re discovered, either by cybercriminals or software vendors. However, automated patch management platforms offer you a huge advantage in this battle because they shorten your response time once patches become available.

With such software, you can deploy updates across thousands of endpoints within hours or days, instead of weeks or months when done manually. This speed matters because cybercriminals start exploiting zero-day threats within the first 24-48 hours after being discovered. In other words, the faster you patch, the smaller your window of exposure.

The essential features for tracking patch status across your Windows devices include automated compliance reporting that allows you to generate detailed SOC 2, HIPAA, or PCI DSS reports with just a few clicks. Equally important are real-time dashboards that clearly show your complete patch status across all Windows devices instantly.

Customizable reports let you filter by severity levels, device groups, or deployment timelines, giving you the flexibility to focus on what matters most. You’ll also need historical data that proves your security improvements with each patch deployment.