Why is Cloud Based Patching More Secure and Efficient?

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To better understand the concept of patching, visualize the example of taking your used car to the dealership or mechanic. Every now and then, you will feel that your automobile is not performing up to the mark, and thus, needs attention.

The same scenario holds true for enterprise software and applications, which tend to become sluggish over time. There is also a constant need to introduce improvements and enhancements in the existing enterprise solutions to further increase productivity.

Another key dimension related to patching is plugging the security gaps or vulnerabilities that arise over time. Cyber threats are constantly becoming meaner, and to protect your enterprise resources, you need to introduce security patches on a regular basis.

There is also the need for patching an existing software or application when a new feature or functionality is being introduced. This in turn improves the effectiveness of the solution in place, while also improving employee efficiency in most cases.

Patching the Traditional Way

When you consider the traditional method of patching, one may find it very resource intensive, time taking, cumbersome and tedious. It involves gaining physical access to each employee device and performing the patch work individually.

For larger organizations, this process could span several weeks or months. During the patching process, some of your endpoint devices might be patched, while others might be lagging, thus leaving those devices open to vulnerabilities.

Cloud Based Patching – The Solution

There are two ways of looking at cloud based patching processes. Firstly, instead of physically gaining access to each device, these can be accessed remotely over the cloud. After performing the patching process, the connection can be terminated.

The above method eliminates the need for IT personnel, or your service provider, to physically access each employee device. This method of patching can be particularly useful in case you have a large remote workforce, or your employees are physically dispersed.

The other cloud powered patching mechanism we want to highlight is even better than the above one. Take the example of Cloud Hosted Virtual Desktops, such as the ones being offered by leading Cloud Service Provider (CSP) dinCloud.

These cloud desktops are maintained centrally within one of the data centers of the service provider. So, IT personnel have to patch the “golden image” of those cloud desktops, on the basis of which all the other cloud desktops have been replicated / cloned.

As soon as this golden or master image of the cloud desktops is patched, the implemented changes take effect on all the other cloud desktops that have been provisioned from the same service provider. This makes the patching process much quicker and efficient.

Here is another great aspect of cloud based patching, which is rolling back the process in case of any bugs or glitches. Cloud providers maintain backups of the cloud desktops at regular intervals, which are called snapshots.

So, even if you hit a roadblock during cloud based patching, all your IT management personnel need to do is restore the last known stable backup or snapshot, and things return to normal, without impacting productivity in any way.

Conclusion

The best bit about cloud based patching is yet to come, which is that leading cloud providers like dinCloud take care of the patching process for their enterprise users. Our cloud experts will conduct the patching process with zero to minimal disruption.

Based on the above scenarios and information, it is a no-brainer that a cloud powered patching strategy is the best course of action to adopt, whether you view it from the perspective of cost, effort, ease or effectiveness.

Contact dinCloud for cloud solutions that are secure and reliable, with all the patching related activities falling in our domain.