Unpatched software promotes exploitable vulnerabilities. In fact, according to Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report, 22% of vulnerability exploits came from VPN and endpoint devices.
An effective patch management strategy ensures your organization’s infrastructure is always operating with the latest security, performance, and compliance features.
In this blog, we’ll explore ten patch management best practices that help organizations improve uptime, enhance protection, and maintain operational efficiency.
1. Create and maintain an IT asset inventory
Patch management begins with understanding the scope of what you’re protecting. Take inventory of your IT environment, including all endpoints, operating systems, and applications. For MSPs, this means assessing each customer’s network separately. For IT departments, this includes workstations, servers, networks, storage and security devices, and all business-critical applications and third-party software.
2. Establish a clear patch management policy
A written patch management policy provides a proactive, structured framework that defines how an organization identifies, evaluates, tests, and deploys software patches across its IT systems. Its purpose is to reduce security risk, resolve known issues, and enable new features while maintaining operational stability.
A strong patch management policy should include:
- Roles and responsibilities
- Standard vs Emergency procedures (such as rollbacks)
- Patch prioritization criteria
- Testing and validation procedures
3. Build a consistent patch schedule
Regular patch schedules help teams plan ahead and reduce disruption. Coordinate your schedule with vendor patch releases and plan deployments around off-peak hours or maintenance windows.
For MSPs, align patching with your customers’ operational needs. For IT teams, communicate clearly with department leaders and stakeholders.
4. Automate patch management where possible
Manual patching is time-consuming and prone to human error. Automated patch management software allows you to:
- Schedule and deploy patches across multiple endpoints
- Enforce policies consistently
- Receive alerts on failures or delays
- Reduce the time between patch release and implementation
Automation is especially critical for MSPs managing multiple client environments and IT departments with limited staff and expansive infrastructure. Tools such as ConnectWise RMM™ help reduce workload while increasing visibility and control.
Download our RMM Buyer’s Guide for key questions to ask when evaluating your RMM options.
5. Test patches before deployment in a test environment
Before deploying patches in production, test them in a sandboxed environment that closely reflects real-world conditions. Testing reduces the risk of introducing bugs, compatibility issues, or performance degradation.
Patches that seem safe in theory can still conflict with custom configurations, legacy systems, or critical business apps.
6. Prioritize patches based on risk
Not every patch has equal importance. Use a risk-based approach to decide which patches to address first.
Prioritization criteria might include:
- Severity of the vulnerability (CVSS scores, known exploits)
- Possible downtime of affected systems and downtime tolerance
- Exposure level (e.g., internet-facing vs. internal-only)
7. Ensure timely patch deployment
Delaying patch deployment increases your exposure to exploits, especially for known vulnerabilities. Develop SLAs for:
- Testing turnaround times
- Deployment timeframes based on patch severity
- Emergency patch response targets
Timely patching also supports compliance with cybersecurity frameworks such as NIST, ISO 27001, and HIPAA.
8. Monitor and audit the patch management process
Visibility is essential for ongoing improvement and regulatory compliance. Auditing your patch process helps you identify inefficiencies, demonstrate accountability, and drive continuous improvement across the organization.
Set up real-time monitoring and periodic audits to track:
- Which assets are fully patched
- Patch success and failure rates
- Coverage gaps and missed updates
- System performance and stability post-deployment
- Hardware or software that is outdated, unsupported, or non-compliant
Modern RMM solutions, such as ConnectWise RMM, enhance this process by providing automated alerts and detailed reports on unpatched devices, unsupported operating systems, and aging hardware. These insights allow IT teams and MSPs to proactively address vulnerabilities before they become security risks.
9. Have a rollback and disaster recovery plan
Make a backup plan for those times when patching doesn’t go as expected. Before applying patches, be sure to always take a backup of your systems. This allows for a rollback to a stable state if a patch causes unexpected issues.
For both MSPs and IT departments, this step minimizes downtime and preserves data integrity.
10. Perform post-patch analysis
The patching process doesn’t end at deployment. Perform post-patch assessments to confirm success and identify areas for improvement.
Key metrics to track include:
- Patch success rates
- Time to remediation
- Outstanding vulnerabilities
- System stability post-update
This data helps refine future cycles and supports compliance reporting, audits, and SLA reviews.
Simplify patch management with ConnectWise RMM
Managing patches across diverse systems, vendors, and endpoints doesn’t have to be complex or time-consuming. ConnectWise RMM empowers both MSPs and IT departments to automate and streamline patch management at scale, while maintaining control, visibility, and security every step of the way.
With ConnectWise RMM, you can:
- Automatically detect and deploy patches for operating systems and third-party applications.
- Customize patch policies for different environments, clients, or departments.
- Schedule patches to minimize disruption and align with business needs.
- Monitor patch success, failure, and compliance through real-time dashboards and reporting.
- Integrate backup and disaster recovery tools to safeguard against patch-related disruptions.
Whether you manage dozens of clients or a single complex enterprise network, our patch management software provides the flexibility and reliability you need to stay ahead of vulnerabilities and maintain business continuity.
Start a free 30-day trial and see how ConnectWise RMM can simplify patching, boost efficiency, and strengthen your IT security posture.
