Before we get into my list of patch management tools, we all have used WSUS and some of us have become proficient at SCCM, these tools aren't in my top 3 list... they don't even crack my top 10! However, from an enterprise point of view, an enterprise that is primarily Windows, those tools are great and they get the job done. I want to talk about 3 tools that are easy to set up, easy to use and provide a good value to the admin team when it comes to managing updates and patches. Administrators that have to manage patches (which is just about all of us) want an easy solution that's not going to require a ton of overhead. I feel like SCCM is a monster when it comes to management and overhead, maybe that's not your experience. The end result we all desire, is to move away from manually patching and find a solution that will do that work for us. My list is not be any means definitive, these are tools that I've actually had interaction with in the past and that I've found to be helpful and easy to use. Without further ado, here's my top 3 list of patch management tools (in no particular order) with an accompanying video:
LANDesk
GFI LanGuard
SolarWinds Patch Manager
What do you think? Am I way off? Did I leave off any good tools that some of you are using out there? I'd love to hear from you.