Software Updates: How Do You Handle The Process?

Keeping up with patch installation can be an incredibly challenging task, particularly when vendors release a lot of patches in a short period of time. As you know Microsoft released numerous security updates in April. In May the company intends to release only one security update and it remains to be seen how many non-security patches will be released.

On March 22 Microsoft made its Windows Software Update Services Release Candidate available to the public for evaluation. Have you installed and copy and if you have, what are your experiences with it to date? Do you think it's a big improvement over previous update technology provided by Microsoft? Do you see areas that still need improvement? Will you make it part of your overall patch management strategy?

Microsoft products certainly aren't the only products that require periodic updates. Each network environment is different, but even so you undoubtedly have a lot of products to manage as part of your regular administrative duties. What third-party tools do you use to help with audits and patch installation?