How the Holistic IT NOC Helps You Test and Manage Your Security Patch Rollups
Patching is an important service that you do to help keep your companies software secure, up-to-date and running efficiently. However, new patches often cause issues with existing applications which can create additional work for your team and result in lost productivity for your business. To avoid these problems, it’s important to thoroughly test new patches before deploying them.
To help you reduce the number of issues experienced when installing Microsoft’s monthly security patch rollup, our NOC technicians conduct extensive testing to identify any errors and conflicts with existing applications so that you can provide a more efficient and comprehensive patching service to your clients.
Here’s an overview of our Windows security rollup patch testing process:
Day 1: Patch Tuesday
Microsoft releases their monthly security patch rollup on Patch Tuesday, the second Tuesday of each month. At this time, we delay the installation of this rollup for two weeks in order to thoroughly test how the installation impacts common business applications.
Note: Patch rollup is only delayed if you have set your Security patch policy to “Whitelisted”
Day 11: Patch Testing Report Published
11 days after Patch Tuesday, we publish a report that lists any issues we’ve identified, and (if applicable) provides steps to avoid or remediate the issue. This report also includes any previously blacklisted patches that will be included in the monthly rollup.
Day 14: Patch Rollup Released
14 days after the patch rollup is made available, we whitelist it and make it available for download and installation according to your existing patch policies.
Note: If significant and/or extensive issues are found with the patch rollup, Holistc IT may delay the release of that rollup past Day 14 to provide partners with more time to prepare and minimise the impact on your business
The Benefits of Patch Rollup Testing
Patch management can be a very time-consuming process for IT Departments. By delaying the installation of Microsoft’s monthly security patch rollup, our team is able to extensively test the different patches within the roll up on your behalf—helping you identify and remediate issues before they happen and provide a better overall patching service to your business. Additionally, delaying the installation provides other software vendors with time to release updates that fix known issues, giving you a better chance at avoiding additional problems altogether.
Our job as your Managed Service Provider (MSP) is to minimise your businesses’ technology issues so that they can keep your business running smoothly. With the Holistic IT patch testing process, you don’t just get a patch management process; you get a complete team that enables you to provide a better patching service for your business.
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