How To Implement a Patch Management Process

Most organizations take months to fix known security vulnerabilities — and many don’t address them until after they result in a data breach. Can implementing a patch management process solve these issues for good?

Common Patch Management Implementation Challenges

While developing and utilizing a patch management process may seem straightforward to most, various obstacles can make it challenging. If brands lack the necessary resources, team members, or funds, they may be unable to achieve successful implementation.

Smaller businesses often lack the resources to implement a patch management process. Many have a one-person IT department or a very small team because that’s all they need — or can afford. They’d need to deprioritize other critical processes temporarily for implementation to progress, potentially increasing the risk of a cyberattack.

Acquiring, testing, and deploying patches is already incredibly time-consuming. Devoting time to the planning and managerial aspects of patch management process implementation might not be an option for many smaller companies.

Even if enterprises have a large enough IT team, they may still not have enough time to implement a patch management process. Many are too overwhelmed by the number of patches demanding their attention. In fact, organizations fail to fix an average of 28% of their software vulnerabilities every six months, resulting in 57,000 unaddressed security issues.

Another common implementation challenge revolves around the sheer complexity of modern IT ecosystems. Considering the average business had 130 software-as-a-service applications in 2022 — and likely dozens of other technologies, tools, and systems — maintaining a schedule and committing to a pre-set process can be difficult.

The Consequences of Poor Patch Management

While most developers are already familiar with the consequences of poor patch management, many upper-level executives may be unaware, resulting in difficulty securing board buy-in. Unfortunately, unaddressed security vulnerabilities will entice threat actors in the meantime — and the blame will likely fall squarely on the IT department.

Many business executives are aware of the risks of poor patch management but actively choose to overlook them in favor of maintaining their time to market or meeting client expectations. In fact, six in 10 organizations have experienced a breach due to a known but unpatched vulnerability. All too often, they consider the reward to be greater than the risk.

Although many professionals outside of the IT team do not currently view a patch management process as critical, seeing hard facts may change their minds. For instance, they may feel inclined to act when they realize the average data breach cost surpassed $4.45 million in 2023 — a 15% increase from 2020.

The silver lining to the numerous consequences of poor patch management is the potential for a better board buy-in. If the IT team showcases alarming corporate-specific metrics in an appeal, they may convince the executives to approve additional funding, solving some of the most common implementation issues.

Best Practices for Patch Management Implementation

Organizations should consider using these best practices while developing and implementing their patch management process.

Monitor Vendor Announcements

Monitoring third-party announcements for any news of new patches helps brands prioritize risk. While many well-known vendors notify IT administrators directly or release information on a schedule, others only post infrequent updates to their searchable database.

Create a Patch Management Policy

A patch management policy is a set of rules and protocols that clearly outline the steps to follow for standard events and contingencies. It considers timing and criteria to inform responsible parties of their duties, standardizing processes and expectations.

Automate the Patching Process 

Automation can be an incredible help for those short on IT staff. Considering companies take around 208 days to fix low-risk patches, a tool that automatically tests or deploys them at off-peak hours may be vital.

Step-by-Step Patch Management Process Implementation

Developing a standardized, effective patch management strategy is a multi-step process.

1. Inventory Every Asset

Developers must inventory all software, ranking them based on risk level and criticality to generate an up-to-date baseline. They should evaluate the potential impact of various vulnerabilities to understand how to prioritize them best.

2. Document Every Step

As most IT professionals know, documentation is critical for regulatory compliance, reporting, troubleshooting, and insight generation. They should record the pre- and post-patching states of all systems and vulnerabilities to streamline these processes.

3. Create System Backups

A backup is a lifesaver when things don’t go as planned. Developers should back up their production environment before applying fixes in the event their patch is unstable or introduces a new critical vulnerability. This way, they can return to the previous version immediately.

4. Develop Contingency Plans

Developers should create contingency plans for likely scenarios to ensure their patch management process is comprehensive. For example, they should define what to do when an emergency patch is necessary or when an asset becomes unpatchable.

5. Safely Assess and Test

Patch assessment and testing should occur in a safe environment — meaning not the live environment — before deployment to ensure they’re stable and won’t cause issues. Otherwise, end users may experience unexpected problems or crashes.

6. Deploy Pilot and System-Wide Patches

Pilot patch deployment helps the IT team flag any unexpected issues that occur in the live environment. If this initial process goes smoothly, system-wide deployment can progress. Developers should remember to document the post-patching state at this stage.

7. Monitor Post-Patching 

While testing should ensure everything goes smoothly, some things slip through the cracks since the live environment introduces countless variables. Monitoring the post-patching state can help the IT team catch new vulnerabilities and ensure regulatory compliance.

What Does Good Patch Management Look Like?

While patch management processes differ from organization to organization, they should all generally follow the foundational steps previously outlined. Additionally, they should adopt some of the best practices — they’re widely accepted and considered standard for a reason.

Having said that, many smaller enterprises have to make strategic sacrifices to be able to dedicate enough time to implement a patch management process. As long as professionals can fix security vulnerabilities promptly, the intricacies become less crucial.