Patch management software has become more popular over recent years with businesses both large and small. Frequent fixes to the windows operating System fix security issues and sometimes add functionality to the programs. They have also gotten the consumer used to the fact that most programs require patches.
Most home users will enable automatic updates for the Windows operating system and this is a specific and limited type of patch management software. There are many more programs on almost every computer which also require patching. For the larger company or business, this can be a time and labor intensive job keeping up with patches and securing the system.
However the software patch management programs have taken much of the burden off the workforce and allow these operations to be configured and executed automatically. Whether a company has two machines or an entire network of machines spanning the nation, the need is the same, to keep up to date. While formerly one or more employees might be dedicated strictly to updating and securing all the machines in a location, new software programs have freed them for more profitable duties.
These programs usually have a special console and it may well be located on a single master machine on the network. The master console can determine which programs should be patched and which should be overlooked. The user can also determine from which website a patch should be downloaded.
Not every machine on a large network will have identical software installed. These machines all may be used for different purposes and this influences what programs are installed. Patch management programs for businesses are able to scan each machine and identify what programs are present and may need patches as opposed to simply applying a set number of fixes or patches to all machines regardless of content.
There are two broad types of management programs for patches that are used in both businesses and for home users. The first is an agent based patching solution. Agent based means simply that a small program is resident on each computer and scans the machine it is on, downloads the necessary patches and then reports to a central computer. This method is bandwidth intensive but mostly automated and efficient on a large scale.
The other type of common program is that which is in one central location with a single machine managing all aspects of the updates. It will scan each machine on the network, determine the needs of the machine, retrieve the fixes and apply them. While this solution is located in a single machine and configurable it usually requires much more supervision than the agent based solution.
At one time, the labor was intensive to maintain security and upgrades on computers in large networks, the entry of patch management software has cut the costs considerably. Automatic management programs for the home computer user are widely accepted. Businesses and corporations on the other hand have wider considerations and the labor required, the amount of bandwidth used, and the security needs of the business should enter in to the decision of which type of automated software is best.
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