Managed Operations

Patch Management

Patching done properly: Windows, Linux, macOS, third-party applications and network firmware kept current on a tested, scheduled cadence, with the reports to prove it.

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The unglamorous control that stops most attacks

Nobody gets excited about patching, which is precisely why it’s the control most often missed. Yet the overwhelming majority of successful attacks exploit vulnerabilities that already had a fix available. Next2IT’s patch management keeps your entire estate current on a tested, scheduled, evidenced cadence, so the doors attackers rely on are closed before they try them.

What we patch

Operating systems. Windows, Windows Server, macOS and the full spread of Linux distributions, from monthly cumulative updates to emergency out-of-band fixes.

Applications. Browsers, productivity suites, Java, Adobe and the hundreds of third-party packages that quietly accumulate vulnerabilities on every machine. Application patching is where most estates are weakest.

Hypervisors and infrastructure. VMware, Hyper-V and the platforms your virtual estate stands on, sequenced so hosts update without taking workloads down.

Network firmware. Firewalls, switches, access points and routers. This is the layer most businesses forget, and edge devices are now among the most exploited kit on the internet. Ours get the same discipline as servers.

How it runs

Ring-based deployment. Patches land in a test group first, then roll through the estate in waves during maintenance windows you approve. A bad patch gets caught by five machines, not five hundred.

Emergency response. When a critical vulnerability is being actively exploited, waiting for the monthly window is not a plan. We push out-of-band fixes fast, with the same testing discipline compressed rather than skipped.

Visibility and evidence. You see what’s patched, what’s pending, what failed and what’s been deliberately deferred, with reporting that satisfies Cyber Essentials, ISO 27001 and your insurers. Patching that can’t be evidenced might as well not have happened.

The awkward stuff handled honestly. Every estate has something that can’t be patched: the machine tool controller on Windows 7, the application vendor who won’t certify updates. We isolate and contain those systems rather than pretending they don’t exist, exactly as we did when a legacy ERP had to pass Cyber Essentials.

Why Next2IT

Patching sits at the heart of our managed services: it’s how our endpoint management, Linux support and 24×7 IT support keep estates safe, and it’s run by the same UK operations centre that watches your systems around the clock. Boring, relentless, evidenced. That’s what good patching looks like.

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The benefits

The benefits of Patch Management

What you gain when patch management is delivered and managed by Next2IT.

Everything, not just Windows

Operating systems, third-party applications, hypervisors and network device firmware, patched on one coordinated schedule.

Tested, then deployed

Updates ring out through test groups before the wider estate, with rollback plans when a patch misbehaves.

Emergency response

When a critical vulnerability lands, out-of-band patching closes it fast, not at the next monthly window.

Evidence for auditors

Compliance reporting that shows what's patched, what's pending and why, ready for Cyber Essentials and ISO 27001.

When did that server last get patched?

If the honest answer is a shrug, we'll take patching off your plate and prove it's done, every month.

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FAQs

Frequently asked questions

Because it's the single most effective security control most organisations neglect. The overwhelming majority of successful cyber attacks exploit vulnerabilities for which a patch already existed. Ransomware crews don't need clever zero-days when thousands of businesses are months behind on updates. Disciplined patching closes the doors attackers actually use.

Windows and Windows Server, Linux distributions, macOS, third-party applications such as browsers, Java and Adobe, hypervisors, and the firmware on firewalls, switches and access points. Network devices are the most commonly forgotten layer, and one of the most dangerous, so we treat them as first-class citizens.

Untested patching sometimes does, which is why ours is staged. Updates deploy to a test ring first, then roll out in waves during maintenance windows you approve, with rollback plans for the rare patch that misbehaves. The risk of a bad patch is real but manageable; the risk of not patching is how businesses end up in the news.

It's central to it. Cyber Essentials requires security updates for operating systems and applications to be applied within 14 days of release, and unsupported software to be removed or isolated. Our patching service meets that requirement and produces the evidence assessors ask for. See our Cyber Essentials service for the full certification picture.

Yes. For always-on systems we use maintenance windows agreed around your operations, rolling updates across clustered and load-balanced systems, and careful sequencing so dependent services come back in the right order. Where a system genuinely can't be patched, such as a legacy application stuck on an old OS, we isolate and contain it instead, and say so plainly in your risk reporting.

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