Patch Management is one of the most time consuming and expensive operation in the enterprise. It is also recurring administrative task. So it is important to follow good patch management process. The below steps helps you to avoid problems during patch deployment.
1. First understand and qualify the importance of the patch. So that you can decide whether the patch should be installed immediately or not. For example server related security patch is critical.
2. Find out the computers where the patch needs to be installed. So that you can track or verify whether the patch is installed successfully or not.
3. Download the patch file (exe file) from the external site such as Microsoft. Ensure that it is downloaded completely
4. Take couple of computers and deploy the patch. Ensure that there is no issue. Even though it is tested in various level, just do it once again in your network
5. Decide the date & time to install the patch. It is better if you choose non working hours or week ends. So that if you find any problems then you can troubleshoot them without affecting your employee’s work
6. Ensure those computers are up and running. Otherwise wake them up before installing the patch.
7. Deploy the patch
8. Track the patch deployment status. If any error then analyze those computers and troubleshoot them.
By following the above steps you can ensure error less patch deployment.
Desktop Central automates most of the above mentioned steps such as scanning the network computers for missing patches, downloading the patch (exe) file, install them in the required computers and finally generates the detailed status report.
Thanks
Mathi
