Keeping devices properly patched is essential for cybersecurity, as it helps ensure endpoints receive critical security updates that reduce exposure to known vulnerabilities. Many security frameworks and internal policies also require timely patching, so IT teams need reliable evidence that updates are being applied on schedule.
However, endpoint environments are constantly evolving, making it difficult to patch them regularly. Devices can go offline or miss maintenance windows; users can delay restarts to avoid interruptions; installations can fail unnoticed; and, as a result, endpoints stay unpatched longer than they should.
It’s not enough for IT teams to just deploy patches. They need to ensure that every endpoint is covered and each update is successfully deployed, with the ability to follow up on issues.
So, how can IT teams prevent missed patches across endpoints? Let’s explore some practical ways to keep each device updated and ensure consistent patching across your environment.
Why Endpoints Get Missed During Patching
Of course, there is no single cause of missed patches; a variety of factors can lead to them being missed. Reasons for missed patches can include:
Remote devices are offline during scheduled patch windows and miss the timing.
Remote and hybrid endpoints are not always connected to the corporate network, so they’re harder to track and manage.
Asset inventories are incomplete or outdated, making it impossible to know which endpoints are patched and which are not.
Third-party applications are not included in the patching process, leaving significant vulnerabilities exposed.
Patch policies are applied inconsistently across departments, locations, or device groups.
Failed patches are not reviewed or remediated quickly, leaving endpoints exposed to known risks for longer than necessary.
IT teams rely on manual checks or delayed reporting, which can be time-consuming and prone to human error.
Legacy tools only show partial visibility into endpoint status.
Fortunately, none of these problems are insurmountable. Missed patches tend to be an issue of workflows or visibility, not just patch deployment problems, so with the right patch management solution, they can all be addressed.
Start With a Complete Endpoint Inventory
The first step in proper patch management is understanding your inventory. You need a list of your company’s endpoints, the operating systems they run, the applications installed on them, and what devices are currently managed. From there, you have the foundation for your patch management.
Keep in mind that static spreadsheets or manual inventory lists aren’t sufficient. Modern endpoint environments can consist of a large variety of devices, each with an assortment of applications to manage, and keeping track of everything is vital.
IT teams should use endpoint management software that can track:
Device name and user assignment
Operating system and version
Installed software
Patch status
Online or offline status
Device group, department, or location
Security or compliance status
By maintaining a consistently up-to-date inventory, IT teams have a reliable foundation for their patch management. This helps them identify endpoints that may have missed patches or otherwise fall outside their normal patching workflows, so they can close coverage gaps and keep devices more consistently updated.
Group Endpoints by Risk, Role, and Update Requirements
Managing your policies and requirements is another key step for ensuring proper patch management. Not every endpoint should be patched the same way, so creating groups based on their risks and requirements can help ensure that IT teams apply the right policies to each device.
Consider the following when grouping your endpoints:
1. Business-Critical Devices
Certain key devices, such as servers, executive devices, shared workstations, point-of-sale systems, and operational systems, may need stricter testing or staged rollout rules. These devices are the most business-critical, so it’s vital that they remain up to date and protected, but the updates must also be properly tested to avoid issues during deployment.
2. Remote and Hybrid Devices
In today’s world of remote work and BYOD environments, laptops and off-network endpoints can be more challenging to manage. They need cloud-based visibility and patching policies that can be enforced even when they’re not connected to an office network. This helps maintain consistent patch coverage and stronger audit readiness for remote and hybrid devices, even when they don’t often connect.
3. Standard Employee Workstations
One of the most common device groups is for standard employee devices. These are the everyday devices that can follow standard patch windows, including automated deployment rules and restart policies, to keep endpoints properly patched.
4. Test and Pilot Groups
When you deploy updates, you don’t want to roll them all out at once, especially not without testing. Start with a small pilot group to validate key patches and ensure they work properly; then you can roll them out to larger groups. This testing phase is particularly important for high-impact OS updates and business-critical applications, where you don’t want an update to go wrong unexpectedly.
Use Automated Patch Policies Instead of Manual Follow-Up
Automation is a powerful tool for maintaining patch compliance. With a good automated patch management tool, IT teams can establish patching policies, roll them out across endpoints, and ensure they’re properly deployed.
A good patching policy should:
Define which operating systems and applications need regular patching.
Establish device groups and set policies for each.
Schedule deployment windows that match business needs.
Include restart rules and user notification settings (where appropriate).
Apply policies automatically when endpoints are added or reassigned.
Review deployment results after each patch cycle to verify updates are properly installed.
With this, IT teams can use automation to reduce the chances of missing endpoints. Patches are automatically applied based on company policy, rather than relying on individual technicians. It helps to use an endpoint management tool like Splashtop AEM to automate patch deployment and manage policies from a centralized console.
Include Third-Party Applications in the Patching Workflow
Endpoints are more than their operating systems. Patching that only covers OS updates is incomplete and can leave severe vulnerabilities exposed, so it’s important to include applications in the patching process.
Many common applications can serve as entry points to devices, so any vulnerabilities they have must also be patched promptly. This can include:
Browsers
Communication tools
PDF readers
Collaboration apps
Remote meeting software
Creative or productivity applications
Line-of-business applications
When setting up patch management, IT should ensure it monitors installed software and includes third-party apps in its patching workflows. Like with operating systems, it’s essential to identify outdated versions and ensure employees have the latest security updates installed, especially on business-critical devices.
Prioritize Patches Based on Vulnerability Risk
When you have multiple endpoints and applications to manage, patch backlogs can be common. As such, it’s important to know how to prioritize them.
Regular patching processes should be risk-aware, with ways to determine what patches must take priority and which can wait for regular patching cycles. The higher the threat a vulnerability poses, the more important it is to patch it as quickly as possible.
Patches should be prioritized based on several criteria, including:
1. Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
The most critical vulnerabilities are those that are known and actively exploited. The longer you take to patch them, the greater the risk of exposure, so they should be treated as urgent and addressed without delay.
2. Severity and Exploitability
Vulnerabilities should also be judged based on how severe and exploitable they are. IT teams need to weigh severity scores, the vulnerability's exploitability, and its potential impact on a business to determine whether it should take priority.
3. Endpoint Importance
Not all endpoints are equally valuable. A vulnerability on a business-critical or widely used endpoint will typically be prioritized over the same issue on a low-risk device to reduce potential damage and business impact.
Verify Patch Success Across Every Endpoint
Just because you deploy a patch doesn’t mean the endpoint is guaranteed to be protected. IT teams need visibility into endpoints and patch status to ensure patches are properly installed or to identify if something went wrong. The patch could be pending, or the device may need to reboot to complete the installation; there’s even a chance the update never reached the device. Visibility is essential for verifying deployment.
Make sure you can identify patch statuses across your endpoints, including:
Which endpoints are fully patched
Which endpoints are missing patches
Which patches failed
Which devices are pending reboot
Which devices were offline during deployment
Which endpoints are excluded from a policy
Which applications remain outdated
Which vulnerabilities are still present
It’s best to use an endpoint management solution that provides clear visibility into endpoint status, so IT teams can view patch status, track failures, and remediate endpoints as needed. This can help IT teams move from knowing a patch was sent to knowing exactly what happened.
Remediate Failed or Missed Patches Quickly
Following up on patches is vital because if a patch is missed or fails to install, detecting and resolving it quickly is essential. A good follow-up process should help determine whether any devices failed to receive the updates they need, so IT teams can follow up, identify what went wrong, and address it.
A good remediation process should include:
Review failed patches after deployment.
Identify the reason a patch failed.
Check whether the endpoint was offline, blocked, or needs to restart.
Retry deployment (where appropriate).
Investigate failures via remote access or background actions.
Document exceptions for devices that cannot be patched immediately.
Confirm that remediation was successful.
Build Reporting Into the Patch Management Process
Reporting helps IT prove that patching works, not only during the initial installation, but also over time. With good reports, IT teams are better equipped to handle audits, internal reviews, and improvements over time.
Of course, this is all dependent on the reports providing pertinent information. You’ll want to ensure your reporting includes key details, including:
Patch compliance, sorted by device group, to ensure each group is properly prioritized and addressed.
Missing patches, sorted by severity, to determine if any critical patches are missing.
Failed patch counts, which could indicate ongoing issues.
The time it takes to patch high-risk vulnerabilities, to demonstrate they’re being promptly addressed.
Endpoint coverage by policy, to demonstrate patch policy compliance.
Devices offline during patch windows, so they can be properly updated.
Third-party application update status to demonstrate full patch coverage.
Exceptions and approved deferrals for any endpoints that aren’t fully patched.
These reports should demonstrate that patches are being deployed in a repeatable manner and provide accountability. The evidence in these reports can help support audit readiness and IT compliance when a company properly manages its patches.
How Splashtop AEM Helps Keep Endpoints Covered
If you want to ensure you’re keeping your endpoints properly patched and up to date, you need a robust endpoint management platform that provides visibility and automation across all your endpoints. Splashtop AEM (Autonomous Endpoint Management) is just that platform, bringing businesses the ability to manage all their endpoints from a single place.
Splashtop AEM includes:
1. Centralized Endpoint Visibility
Splashtop AEM provides visibility across devices, allowing IT teams to view endpoint status, software inventory, patch status, and vulnerabilities from a centralized admin dashboard. This makes it easier to identify which devices need attention and verify which endpoints are patched, missing updates, or still require follow-up.
2. Automated OS and Third-Party Patching
Splashtop AEM’s automated patch management helps IT teams deploy patches across operating systems and third-party applications. The automation can follow your policy to properly prioritize and manage updates, verify deployments, and follow up on issues as needed, reducing manual work and improving consistency.
3. Patch Status Tracking and Remediation
Splashtop AEM can track patch deployment and status across endpoints, helping IT teams monitor outcomes, identify failures, and address devices that remain vulnerable. This helps IT teams keep endpoints more consistently updated and maintain clear records of patching activity, failures, and follow-up actions.
4. Policy-Based Control
With Splashtop AEM, IT teams can establish policies for deploying patches across device groups. This includes prioritization, scheduling, testing, and more to help manage endpoints consistently, even as environments change.
Endpoint Patching Checklist
When you’re patching your endpoints, you don’t want to miss a step, but there’s a lot to keep in mind. As such, we’ve prepared a handy endpoint patching checklist to help guide your patching process and ensure you’re keeping everything up to date:
Maintain a continuous endpoint inventory to ensure you’re managing every device.
Group devices by risk, role, and update requirements for proper prioritization.
Apply automated patch policies for consistent updates.
Include operating system and third-party application updates.
Prioritize high-risk vulnerabilities.
Use pilot groups to test updates and identify issues early.
Track patch success and failure so you can address any issues.
Follow up on offline devices.
Remediate failed patches quickly.
Report patch coverage regularly.
Prevent Missed Patches with Splashtop AEM
Maintaining patch compliance and ensuring every device is updated takes more than just a recurring update schedule. It requires ongoing visibility, policy-based automation, risk-based prioritization, status verification, and the ability to quickly remediate issues when patches fail.
Fortunately, with the right software, all this is easily attainable. Splashtop AEM provides the control, visibility, and automation that IT teams need to keep all their endpoints up to date, even across BYOD and remote environments. As a result, IT teams can reduce missed patches, keep workflows consistent, and gain the improved visibility they need to ensure security and compliance.
Want a simpler way to find and fix missed endpoint patches? Get started with a free trial of Splashtop AEM today.
