What is software update management?

Software update management is the process of managing the distribution and application of updates to software. Updates can fix bugs, introduce new features as well as boost the processing power of devices across an organisation. Common areas that require software update management include operation systems, applications, and embedded systems like network equipment.

Microsoft reports that most of its customers are breached via vulnerabilities that had patches released years ago.

Source: Microsoft’s Security Intelligence Report (2015)

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Why is software update management important?

An effective software update management process is necessary to maintain operational efficiency, overcome security issues, and maintain the stability of the network infrastructure. The changing nature of technology and the continual appearance of new security threats requires consistent, ongoing attention and software management.

80% of companies who had a data breach or a failed audit could have prevented it by patching on time or doing configuration updates.

Source: Voke Media survey (2016)

Benefits of a software update management system

  • Happy customers – Customers will have a better user experience if technology works well
  • No unnecessary fines – Not meeting compliance standards could lead to monetary fines from regulatory bodies

6 reasons to implement software update management

1. Patching security flaws

  • Software vulnerabilities enable cybercriminals to access a user’s device and plant malware. 

  • Security patches, introduced in software updates, block the “entrances” into devices to protect from attacks

  • With each software update, organisations should also consider changing passwords for another layer of protection

2. Getting new features

  • Installing updates adds new features and removes older, less necessary ones

  • For instance, Microsoft 365 have improved multiple features in Excel, PowerPoint, Word and Outlook in June/July

3. Protecting data

  • If a threat accesses a device through a software security flaw, they will search for personal data, such as financial information and passwords, or other sensitive documents. This information can be used or sold on

  • Updating software improves security vulnerabilities, enabling data to be better protected

4. Improving performance

  • Some software updates patch bugs, enhancing the function and performance of programs and software

  • Electronic devices also require regular maintenance to run their best and prevent crashing

5. Ensuring compatability

  • Software manufacturers send updates to ensure their software is compatible with the latest technology. Without updates, the software may not be able to work with newer technology

  • For example, a recent Microsoft Windows update included ways to customise computer displays and increase the capability to work across multiple devices, such as syncing to different mobile devices

6. Meeting compliance

  • Organisations are often required by regulatory bodies to maintain a certain level of compliance

  • Patch Management, a section within Software Update Management, is a necessary piece of adhering to compliance standards

How to implement a software update management system

Develop an up-to-date inventory of all production systems

Devise a plan to standardise systems to the same version type

List all security controls in place

Compare reported vulnerabilities against your inventory

Classify the risk and prioritise accordingly

Test to ensure no issues in the production environment

Apply the patches

Track your progress and reassess

Best practice

Set clear expectations and hold teams accountable

Work collaboratively with technical teams to establish a common language, i.e. call them ‘bugs’ not ‘issues’

Establish a disaster recovery process in case something goes wrong

How IT Champion can help

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IT Champion offers Managed IT Support for Managed Support Clients, which includes help with software update management. Additionally, our Cyber Security Discovery is the first step to giving your organisation the knowledge and tools to ensure your IT ecosystem – hardware, software, servers, networks, cloud storage and endpoints – is sufficiently protected.

55% of all companies say that when it comes to patching, they spend more time manually navigating the various processes involved than actually patching vulnerabilities, and 72% of managers are afraid to apply security patches right away because they could ‘break stuff’.

So, let IT Champion help you navigate the ins and outs of software update management and provide you security and peace of mind with our expertise.

Source: Ponemon Institute (2018)

Case study

IT Champion has been providing Rotamic Engineering Ltd – a specialist precision engineering company- with industry-leading managed IT services for over 5 years.

We were commissioned to replace all of their ageing Windows 7 PCs before Microsoft stopped supporting the operating system. An IT Champion engineer worked closely with the business, providing a proposal to replace all 20 PCs with new Lenovo PCs running Windows 10, SSD hard drives, i5 Intel processors and 8GB RAM.

The IT Champion engineer attended the site in phases to avoid any major disruption to Rotamic’s working day and transferred all user profile preferences to their new PC. During the project, the IT Champion engineer made sure that all users were working effectively on their new PCs and that they could access their usual applications and services.

The project was a great success and now Rotamic has a fresh set of PCs that are fully supported by Microsoft and IT Champion.

“IT Champion have been our IT support since 2014, during this time they have overseen the move of our servers when we moved premises, then migration from the old servers to one server that fitted the business needs, this work was all out of our working hours, so avoiding any disruption. Most recently we have had our PC’s upgraded to Windows 10, this was carried out within our working hours so that users were happy with the migration of the documents and devices, this was also done with the minimalist of disruption. IT Champion offer great service and I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone looking for IT support.”

Andy Snell | Engineering Director, Rotamic Engineering