Software Update Management Tips for Small Business
Whether you’re an entrepreneur or the IT guru behind a small business, you’re sure to have noticed that a business can amass a large amount of software, plug-ins, and drivers in a short period of time. The modern business requires a lot of computing to stay competitive – it doesn’t matter whether the industry is agriculture or wedding planning.
Three Great Tips for Small Business Software Updates
It’s important and vital for your business to keep those programs updated. You know how it works: hackers wait for the patches, they reverse engineer the exploit the patch is supposed to fix, and then they use that information to attack the systems that haven’t installed the patch yet.
An automatic patch manager is a lifesaver. It will keep track of all the programs you want to keep updated and will grab the updates as soon as they are available. You don’t have to install the downloaded updates right away, but you’ll have plenty of time to test them before rolling out. Once you know which updates and patches you want to install, you can deploy them across the entire network at once or in phases.
The good thing about packages like Microsoft patch management software is that you’re able to verify, across the entire network, which patches are installed and check the status of new installations. It’s security at a glance.
Complicated and difficult software update policies aren’t for every business but even small businesses need some type of phasing procedure. You might have to test in different phases, for example, so that your overall network can remain in operation while running tests on a portion you set aside. Updating in phases might become necessary just to catch up: some of your employees may use different types of software that has fallen out of the update cycle, so you may need to schedule time to update that software before new patches are actually made available.
With hackers and malicious program coders spending so much time looking for flaws in older software versions, it might be wise to begin retiring legacy systems throughout your network. Unsupported software does not receive any new updates and will present a continual, unavoidable threat. It’s better to completely uninstall unsupported programs entirely. If your older computers cannot handle newer software, try using a reputable cloud service instead.
Software updates don’t have to eat up so many man-hours or create so much stress within your workplace. Your employees should not have to take on the risk of installing their own updates. A smart patch management procedure will keep your schedule and your security in the clear.