What is your patch management process?

System and Operating System:
– Software (Bitdefender GravityZone) monitors available system patches. The software reports software as well as operating system updates which are available.
– On a regular basis firewall and network devices are updated with new firmware.
– All server/system updates are tracked using logging tools.
– Patches are rolled to staging systems when possible to reduce system failure risks.

Software releases:
– OperationsCommander maintains several systems including development, testing/preview, and production
– Development systems exist for development
– Testing/staging/preview systems exist to allow for testing of new patches and software updates
– Testing/staging/preview systems also exist for testing and training to avoid these actions on production systems
– Software is rolled to production with messages and release notes to clients about the updates

Weekly, most updates are done automatically (such as OS). In some cases where additional testing and precautions are required before an update, the patch maybe delayed by a few days.