If your managed devices aren’t up-to-date, they’re at risk. Software patches (minor updates to address bugs, security vulnerabilities, and similar issues) are essential for keeping solutions and devices safe, as they address flaws before they can be exploited. In today’s age of hybrid work, maintaining up-to-date security across distributed environments is more important than ever, especially in the face of growing cyber threats and compliance requirements.
So if you’ve ever wondered, “What is a software patch, and why does it matter?” Then it’s time to explore what patches are used for, why they matter, what challenges patching presents, and how software like Splashtop AEM makes patching streamlined and efficient for IT teams.
What Is a Software Patch?
A software patch is a small update for an application or operating system, designed to fix a bug, security flaw, or performance issue. Unlike full version updates, patches are minor tweaks that address specific problems, and typically don’t require much space or bandwidth to install.
Software patches can often be overlooked, but doing so is a grave error. These patches are essential for ensuring security, preventing errors and crashes that could set back productivity, and maintaining peak performance. They may be small updates, but that doesn’t make them unimportant.
What Patches Typically Address
Patches can address a variety of flaws or vulnerabilities that can disrupt work in many ways. Common patches include:
Addressing security vulnerabilities that could otherwise leave the software open to attacks.
Repairing functional bugs that cause issues for daily work.
Fixing compatibility issues with newer operating systems or other software that recently received updates.
Applying performance improvements to enhance the software and user experience.
Common Examples
Software patches are quite common, to the point where many users install them without giving them a second thought. Commonplace software patches include:
Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday updates, where Microsoft (and other companies) release regularly scheduled patches for their software on the second Tuesday of the month.
Zero-day vulnerability patches designed to fix security flaws for newly released software quickly.
Emergency security hotfixes are required when a new security vulnerability is identified and must be addressed as quickly as possible.
Patch vs Update: How a Patch Differs from an Update or Upgrade
Now that we’ve answered “what is a software patch?” The next question is: “What makes patches different from updates or upgrades?” When we compare apatch vs update, they are very similar, but there are some key differences.
A patch is a small, targeted fix, typically designed to address a few small (but still important) issues.
An update, on the other hand, is a broader release that impacts the entire software. This often includes new features, redesigns, or other noticeable changes.
An upgrade goes beyond updates and is a major version change for the software. For instance, going from Windows 10.21H2 to Windows 10.22H2 can be considered an update, whereas going from Windows 10 to Windows 11 is an upgrade. Upgrades typically bring big changes, including new designs, interfaces, features, and other noticeable differences.
Why Software Patching Is Critically Important
So, what makes software patching so important? It can be easy to think that there’s no harm in skipping one or two patches, or even delaying them a couple of days, but patch management is critical for security, IT compliance, efficiency, and more.
Security
Cybersecurity is essential to all businesses, and software patching helps ensure your security is up to date. Security patches are designed to address and fix vulnerabilities that attackers could exploit, thus keeping systems safe. In fact, unpatched systems are a top vector for ransomware, malware, and similar cyberattacks, so leaving systems unpatched creates a huge risk.
Compliance
Security is also important for industry and government regulations, and most frameworks (including HIPAA, PCI-DSS, DORA, and NIS2) require timely patching. Failing to keep systems and applications properly patched and updated not only leaves them vulnerable, but it can also mean failing to meet your regulatory requirements, which can result in steep fines.
Stability & Performance
Patches can be for more than fixing security vulnerabilities. Many patches are also designed to fix bugs or provide performance updates. As such, keeping up with your patch updates helps avoid crashes, freezes, or degraded performance, and can even bring improvements that make work more efficient.
Reputation Risk
What happens if you neglect your patches? What seems like a simple oversight or minor misstep can have significant consequences. Leaving systems unpatched can lead to data breaches, which result in heavy losses, large fines, and a loss of customer trust. The damage to your company’s credibility can be just as damaging as the monetary losses and is even harder to regain.
Common Challenges in Patch Management
While patch management is vital for security and efficiency, there are some challenges that can set patching back. It’s important to understand what these obstacles are so IT teams can be prepared and know how to overcome them; otherwise, they risk further delays.
Common patch management challenges include:
Tracking and deploying patches across many devices can be a challenge without the right tools, especially for remote environments and companies with BYOD policies.
Timing updates without disrupting users is important, but it can be difficult to schedule patch updates for the most convenient times.
Lack of visibility into patch status means patches can fail mid-installation, and no one will know without actively checking.
Human error in manual patching can lead to missed devices or incomplete updates.
Patching remote/hybrid devices outside the corporate network can be difficult without a proper endpoint management solution with automated patch management.
Compatibility issues can occur when patches make changes that mesh poorly with integrations and other systems.
Best Practices for Managing Software Patches
Given the importance of patch management and the challenges in its way, what are some of the top tips for ensuring successful software patch management? Following these software patching best practices will help ensure your updates are convenient, efficient, and complete:
Patch management best practices include:
Maintain a real-time inventory of systems and software to keep track of everything that may need updates when new patches are released.
Automate patch detection and deployment to take the manual work and human error out of endpoint patching; automated patch management can automatically schedule and roll out patches across each of your endpoints.
Test patches in controlled groups to identify any compatibility issues or other unexpected consequences.
Schedule patching during off-hours to minimize interruptions and downtime.
Ensure logging and alerting for audit trails to keep a record of your patch updates, both for internal audits and compliance purposes.
Use patch management tools that support both OS and third-party application patching to take the manual work out of endpoint patching and ensure efficient rollouts.
How Splashtop AEM Simplifies Software Patch Management
Fortunately, there are automated patch management solutions that can help companies and IT teams overcome the challenges of endpoint patching and ensure patches are smoothly and efficiently rolled out across all devices. Splashtop AEM (Autonomous Endpoint Management) helps IT teams streamline operations, automate tasks, and ensure all of their endpoints are secure and compliant from a single place, complete with automated patch management for operating systems and third-party software.
Splashtop AEM includes:
Automatic Detection and Deployment
Splashtop AEM lets IT teams automatically identify missing patches, download new patches when they’re made available, and roll them out across endpoints. This helps ensure devices remain fully updated and protected, ensuring top security and regulatory compliance.
Patch OS and Third-Party Apps
Splashtop AEM’s patching functionality covers major software and common security targets alike, with automated patching for operating systems and third-party software. This makes it easier to keep every application on every device up to date, further eliminating the need for time-consuming manual patching.
Custom Schedules and Alerts
While installing patches can take valuable time, controlling when and how patches roll out helps businesses, employees, and IT teams avoid unscheduled downtime. Splashtop AEM enables you to set custom schedules to ensure patches are deployed at a time of your choosing, and provides alerts as soon as patches are available so updates won’t take your team by surprise.
Centralized Dashboard
Splashtop AEM makes endpoint management easy with a centralized dashboard, which displays patch statuses and lets you automate remediation at scale. The dashboard insights provide vital information on endpoint health, patches, compliance, and more, along with actionable insights and detailed logs.
Lightweight and Easy to Deploy
While some remote monitoring and management (RMM) solutions can be clunky and complex, Splashtop AEM is designed to be fast and user-friendly. There’s no bloated RMM overhead to worry about, just a speedy setup leading to a big impact.
Get Started with Splashtop AEM
Software patches may be small fixes, but they can have a big impact on security, performance, and efficiency. Ignoring patches leaves your endpoints and network at risk, not to mention the effect it can have on your IT compliance and reputation.
Automated patch management is the best way to keep up with your patches without losing time and resources updating multiple remote endpoints. With proper endpoint patching solutions, you can keep your apps and operating systems fully patched and updated.
When you want a powerful, affordable, and lightweight solution with automated patch management, Splashtop AEM is the way to go. Splashtop AEM makes it easy to streamline your patch management workflows and protect your endpoints, keeping productivity high and IT teams happy.
Ready to experience Splashtop AEM for yourself? Get started today with a free trial:
