What Is Patch Management as a Service (PMaaS) & What Can It Do For You?

Patch management as a Service (PMaaS) is a cloud-based solution that helps organizations automate systems and application patching while overcoming the biggest challenges associated with (un)known vulnerabilities.

More and more vulnerability management businesses today have begun to offer services that capitalize on patch management automation. Today, we’re going to discuss the benefits of PMaaS.

What you’ll find in this article.

• What Is Patch Management?
• What Is Patch Management as a Service (PMaaS)?
• Could Outsourcing Patch Management Services Be the Solution to Vulnerabilities?
• Benefits of PMaaS.
• Patch Management Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What Is Patch Management?

The patch management process consists of identifying, acquiring, installing, and verifying for missing security patches.

A patch is a code change designed to fix software bugs, remediate vulnerabilities or improve a product’s performance.

Patch management tools play a crucial role in keeping your IT assets up to date.

Despite the frequent reports about unpatched vulnerabilities and CVEs, many organizations still delay installing patches for months.

Installing patches manually can also lead to human error. This could result in exposed security vulnerabilities or app slowdown.

Managed Services vs. Regular Patch Management

There are many advantages to using managed patch management services instead of relying on traditional patch management.

1. Expertise. Provides access to specialized expertise and knowledge.
2. Scalability. Easily scalable to meet growing needs.
3. Security. Faster patch deployment and comprehensive security management.
4. Cost. Cost-effective with predictable expenses and reduced need for in-house management.

What Is Patch Management as a Service (PMaaS)?

By using PMaaS, you can free up IT staff to focus on more strategic tasks, leaving the patch management solution to do all the heavy lifting.

Patch automation means ensuring that their systems are properly patched and secured (vulnerability management).

Patch management as a service (PMaaS) can patch both on-premises and cloud-based systems.

For on-prem systems, it can automate the process of downloading and installing the latest security patches from vendors.

As for cloud-based systems, to PMaaS can apply important patches provided by the cloud provider.

Could Patch Management as a Service Be the Solution to Vulnerabilities?

Many endpoints are still running obsolete dedicated or third party applications like Adobe Media Player and Microsoft Silverlight.

A solid patch management solution catches these scenarios and either fixes them up or gets rid of them.

And the good part is that it’s budget-friendly.

The monthly fee covers all your patch management and vulnerability management needs.

Also, it comes with advanced patching technology (vulnerability scanners) freeing you from upgrading your setup or getting new licenses.

Benefits of PMaaS

Here’s what PMaaS brings into the fold.

Increase in Productivity. 

Patch management is time-consuming, and will take away the focus of your staff from urgent tasks. By implementing an automated patch management service, not only will the productivity in your organization increase, but also the security.

Boost in Operating Systems Functionality and Beyond.

Deploying missing software patches can also improve the features of installed programs, not only fix software flaws (vulnerability management) discovered by developers.

Regular patching can also help your organization dramatically curb system downtime.

Legacy Detection.

Patch management tools will assist you in locating obsolete systems and/or software that has not gotten software updates or updates in general.

An Asset management solution can also accommodate ioT devices and mobile phones.

Enforce compliance standards.

 By automating your patch management process, you will no longer have to deal with the stress of compliance regulation.

How Can Heimdal® Help Your Business?

We know patching can be both time-consuming and confusing sometimes. Heimdal® Security’s Patch & Asset Management solution is a hyper-automated tool, that you govern.

This solution will help you achieve compliance, mitigate exploits, close existing vulnerabilities, deploy updates, and install software on your machines, running Windows, Linux, macOs, from anywhere in the world.

Heimdal® Security’s Patch & Asset Management solution provides you with both Automated Vulnerability management, and full Inventory Management, to help you see all the software assets of your business, their installed volume, and current operating version.

With the inventory in place, you can:

• Update or downgrade any software or operating systems;
• Uninstall a supported software you want to target;
• Install software and operating systems to more or all your endpoints;
• Allow users to install approved software;
• Deploy software to the endpoints, including custom packages;
• Set the time you want to update.

Fully Customizable

Our patch management solution is fully customizable, meaning that it will suit the exact needs of your business, but it also works as set-and-forget for hyper automated deployment of software and updates. The updates are delivered fully repackaged, ad-free, and tested.

Infinity Management

Additionally, you can get unlimited software flexibility and full Software Asset Management (SAM) with Infinity Management.

Our patch management solution’s Infinity Management module will allow you to deploy any software, at any location, whenever you want.

Infinity Management uses Heimdal® Global CDN infrastructure for deployment and makes use of encrypted packages and encrypted transport.

This implies that a safe server is always close to your endpoint.

You may schedule the deployment to match the demands of the local endpoints, and you have access to any location in the world. You can also provide users the freedom to install it themselves.

Conclusion

Patch management is an important process in keeping your business secure and away from threats, but sometimes it can prove to be either time-consuming, complicated or even both.

The PMaaS solution will take care of the patching burden for you and will make sure that your business is running appropriately, not under the continuous stress of vulnerabilities or threat actors.

Patch Management Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: What are the main categories of patch management solutions?

A: Security patches, bug fixes, and feature updates.

Q: Is patch management part of ITIL?

A: As per ITIL best practices, patch management is categorized under Release Management. It holds significant importance for bug resolution, security vulnerability management, feature enhancement, and downsizing security risks by keeping all your apps up to date.

Q: What is SCCM patch management?

A: System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) is a software patch management suite from Microsoft designed to help IT teams effectively manage Windows-based computers.

Among its array of capabilities, SCCM is frequently used by organizations for patch management to distribute updates and security patches across their network.

Q: Who is responsible for patch management?

A: For a patch management program to work effectively and achieve success, it’s best for security teams not to handle the patch deployment directly.

Instead, this part of the process should be managed by IT operations teams and system administrators who can identify the missing patches and deploy them.

Moreover, patching should be managed with a clear focus on priority, following defined standard operating procedures for efficient implementation. A solid patch management policy adds to the efficiency.

Q: How can I prioritize patches based on vulnerabilities?

A: They be prioritized based on the severity of vulnerabilities they address, the criticality of the systems they protect, and the potential impact of exploitation. A vulnerability assessment and risk analyses can help prioritize patches effectively.

Q: What are the risks of not implementing patch management in your organization?

A: Failure to implement patch management can leave organization systems vulnerable to security breaches, malware infections, cyber attacks, and system instability.

The same principle applies to using applications that are not fully patched.

Organizations may also face compliance issues if they fail to keep software up-to-date with security patches.

Q: What is a patching lifecycle?

A: The patch management lifecycle refers to the complete journey that a software patch or software updates go through, from its initial development and release to its eventual deployment and monitoring.

In any environment, the lifecycle typically involves several stages, including identification of security vulnerabilities, development of patches, testing, approval, deployment, and ongoing monitoring.

Each vulnerability management stage plays a crucial role in ensuring that patches are effectively and safely applied to software systems to enhance security and performance.

Q: What is the role of testing in patch management?

A: Testing is essential to ensure that critical patches do not cause issues such as system crashes or compatibility issues with other software.

During the patching process, stress-testing critical patches should be performed in a controlled environment before deploying patches to production systems.

Q: How can patch management be tailored to meet the specific needs of different types of organizations?

A: Patch management strategies can be tailored based on factors such as the size of the organization, the complexity of its IT environment, regulatory requirements, risk tolerance, and available resources. Larger organizations may require more sophisticated patch management processes and tools compared to smaller ones.

Q: How can patch management contribute to regulatory compliance?

A: Patch management is often a requirement for meeting regulatory standards such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and others.

Maintaining up-to-date software with security patches helps organizations meet and manage regulatory requirements related to data protection and cybersecurity.

Q: How can organizations manage patches for devices and systems that are not connected to the corporate network?

For devices and systems that are not connected to the corporate network, organizations can utilize mobile device management (MDM) solutions, remote patch management tools, or deploy offline patch repositories to facilitate patch distribution and installation.

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Automate your patch management routine.

Heimdal® Patch & Asset Management Software

Remotely and automatically install Windows, Linux and 3rd party application updates and manage your software inventory.

• Schedule updates at your convenience;
• See any software assets in inventory;
• Global deployment and LAN P2P;
• And much more than we can fit in here...

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Cristian Neagu

CONTENT EDITOR

Cristian is a Content Editor & Creator at Heimdal®, where he developed a deep understanding of the digital threat landscape. His style resonates with both technical and non-technical readers, proof being in his skill of communicating cybersecurity norms effectively, in an easy-to-understand manner.