How to Build a Strong Culture of Patch Compliance

Managing your company's IT means constantly battling to keep your systems patched and secure. A single missed update can turn an ordinary day into a disastrous security breach. In fact, about 80% of cyberattacks happen due to unpatched software vulnerabilities

The stakes are high, but fostering a culture of patch compliance can transform your IT security and protect your organization. This blog offers practical steps to build that culture, emphasizing the need for buy-in from everyone, beyond just policies and tools.

Your first challenge: Creating awareness and training

Creating a culture of patch management begins with education. Employees need to understand why patching is crucial and how their actions contribute to the overall security of the organization. Regular training sessions should be implemented to raise awareness about the risks of unpatched software and the benefits of staying up to date.

• Empower through knowledge: Regular workshops and seminars can be the key to unlocking this knowledge. When all employees understand the threats out there and how patches can neutralize them, they’ll start to see patching as a shared responsibility.
• Keep the conversation going: Don’t let awareness drop off after a single training session. Use regular updates, newsletters or team meetings to highlight the importance of patch management and how it fits into your company’s broader security strategy.
• Create clear guidelines: Develop and distribute clear, easy-to-follow guidelines for patch management, so employees and technicians know exactly what is expected of them. Clear instructions reduce confusion and keep everyone on the same page.
• Promote a security-first culture: Foster a mindset where security isn’t just IT’s problem — it’s everyone’s business. Make it clear that patch compliance is a team effort, and everyone’s role is crucial.
• Provide the right tools: Equip your IT team with easy-to-use tools and resources that make patch management straightforward. Simplifying the process encourages regular participation and helps maintain a consistent patching schedule.
• Reward compliance: Implement a reward system to recognize and incentivize employees who consistently follow patch management practices. This could be through recognition programs, bonuses or other incentives.

Next up: Developing clear policies

Once awareness is established, it's crucial to formalize the expectations around patch management through clear policies. These policies should define the process for patching, establish timelines and set accountability standards. Without solid policies, patch management can quickly become chaotic and inconsistent. But with the right guidelines, you can ensure that everyone knows exactly what to do and when.

Create clear policies

Draft comprehensive patch management policies that outline the procedures for regular updates, emergency patches and exceptions. Policies should leave no room for ambiguity and ensure your team knows the drill.

• Routine patching schedule: Establish a clear timeline for applying regular updates (e.g., weekly or monthly).
• Emergency patch response: Define procedures for rapidly deploying critical patches when vulnerabilities are discovered.
• Approval and escalation process: Set guidelines for who can approve patches and how escalation should be handled.
• Exception management: Outline the criteria and process for documenting and approving exceptions to standard patching.
• Notification protocols: Specify how and when to communicate patching activities to relevant stakeholders.
• Compliance and monitoring: Implement methods for tracking patch application and ensuring adherence to policies.
• Rollback procedures: Include steps for safely reversing patches if issues arise.
• Post-patch testing: Detail the requirements for testing systems after patches are applied to ensure stability.

Assign responsibilities

Clearly define who is responsible for what. This might include assigning specific roles to IT staff for implementing patches and to department heads for ensuring compliance within their teams.

• Designate patch management leads: Assign specific IT staff members to oversee the patching process. Ensure that these leads are responsible for scheduling, testing, and applying patches.
• Role allocation for implementation: Identify team members who will carry out the actual patch deployment. Ensure that roles are clearly defined for both routine and emergency patches.
• Departmental compliance role: Assign department heads or managers to monitor and enforce patch compliance within their teams. Hold these leaders accountable for ensuring their teams follow patching policies.
• Clear communication channels: Establish communication protocols between IT staff and department heads to ensure smooth coordination. Define how updates, issues, and exceptions will be communicated across teams.
• Backup and recovery responsibilities: Assign roles for backing up data before patches are applied. Designate a person to handle rollback and recovery procedures if patches cause issues.
• Monitoring and reporting: Ensure a person is responsible for tracking the success of patch implementations. Assign someone to report on compliance and highlight areas where improvement is needed.

Enforce accountability

Zero-day vulnerability attacks are the most time-consuming to contain, often taking around 252 days. Implementing checks and balances helps ensure policies are followed, and regular audits help keep everyone on track.

• Regular audits: Schedule periodic audits to review patch management practices. Ensure that audits assess both adherence to the schedule and the effectiveness of patch deployment.
• Compliance tracking: Implement tools or software to monitor patch compliance in real-time. Track which systems have been patched and identify any gaps or missed patches.
• Performance metrics: Define key performance indicators (KPIs) for patch management, such as time taken to deploy patches or the number of systems successfully updated. Regularly review these metrics to gauge the effectiveness of your patching process.
• Corrective action plans: Develop protocols for addressing non-compliance or failed patch implementations. Ensure that corrective actions are documented and that there’s follow-up to confirm they’ve been completed.
• Incident response review: After any security incident related to patching, conduct a review to identify where accountability may have lapsed. Adjust roles and responsibilities as needed to prevent future issues.

Don’t forget the small stuff: Third-party applications

While operating systems and primary software often receive the most attention, third-party applications are equally vulnerable and require regular patching. Overlooking these can leave gaping holes in your security defenses. Ensuring these applications are up to date is vital for a comprehensive patch management strategy, and Pulseway remote monitoring and management (RMM) solution excels in this area. By offering robust support for patching over 220+ popular third-party applications, Pulseway RMM ensures no vulnerability is left unaddressed

Identify and catalog key applications

Start by mapping out all the third-party applications your organization relies on. From popular productivity tools to niche software, knowing what’s in your tech stack allows you to spot which apps need regular patching, ensuring no weak spots are left unaddressed

Deploy custom software titles

Every business has its unique software needs, and Pulseway RMM is designed to accommodate that. With the ability to deploy custom software titles, you can ensure that even your most specialized applications are included in your patch management routine, leaving no stone unturned.

Automate for consistency

Consistent patching is crucial, and automation is your best ally. Pulseway RMM supports over 220+ popular out-of-the-box patching titles, making it easy to keep third-party apps up to date alongside your core systems. Automation minimizes the chance of human error, helping you rest easy knowing that updates are handled promptly and reliably.

Visualize your patching status

Want to see how your entire IT environment is doing at a glance? Pulseway RMM lets you deploy widgets to visualize patching status across all your systems, right on your dashboard. This real-time visibility helps you quickly spot any areas that need attention, making patch management smoother and more transparent.

Your secret weapon: Automated updates and reporting

The backbone of an effective patch management culture is the right toolset. Let’s face it—manual patching is a drag. It’s time-consuming, prone to human error and makes it hard to keep track of what’s been done.

That’s where automation comes in. With the right tools, you can take a huge chunk of the work off your plate and ensure that your patch management is both thorough and efficient. An RMM solution like Pulseway plays a crucial role by automating the patching process and providing visibility into compliance across the organization.

• Automate the process: Using Pulseway, you can schedule and automate patch deployment. No more late nights trying to push patches across dozens of machines. Reduce the burden on your IT staff and let automation handle the heavy lifting.
• Comprehensive reporting: Pulseway doesn’t just deploy patches—it gives you a clear view of what’s happening across your network. Dashboards and out-of-the-box reports keep all stakeholders informed, offering insights into patch status and identifying areas needing attention.
• Simplified management: RMM tools like Pulseway simplify and streamline the entire patch management process, making it easy to manage both internal systems and third-party applications, ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks.

The benefits of a patch management culture

Doing all of the above might sound like a lot of work but here’s the good news: the benefits of creating a culture of patch compliance are well worth the effort.

• Risk mitigation: Regular patching reduces the risk of vulnerabilities being exploited, protecting the organization from potential threats.
• Compliance: Keeping your systems up to date helps you meet industry regulations and standards, avoiding fines and protecting your reputation.
• Minimized downtime: Proactive patching prevents unexpected system failures, contributing to higher uptime and productivity.
• System stability: Well-maintained systems are more stable and reliable, reducing the frequency of crashes and performance issues.
• Reduced incident response costs: By addressing vulnerabilities through regular patching, the need for costly incident response efforts is minimized.

Step up with Pulseway

Establishing a culture of patch compliance is an ongoing process that requires commitment from everyone in the organization. By focusing on awareness, clear policies, automation and third-party application management, your organization can significantly improve its security posture. Pulseway makes it easier to maintain this culture by automating patch management and providing the visibility needed to ensure compliance. By integrating these practices, your organization can build a resilient and secure IT environment that supports long-term success.

Ready to see how Pulseway can transform your patch management strategy? Take a demo today and experience the difference.