Even in a small organisation, the task of managing updates is a substantial one. While some, such as Anti-Virus products, provide integrated update management many do not. While there are a number of patch management applications, they are mostly tailored and indeed priced for larger enterprise users.

WSUS
Microsoft Windows Software Update Services (WSUS) which is available for the very attractive price of nothing provides patching for recent Microsoft operating systems, front and back office products. The product provides good reporting capabilities so you can see at a glance which machines are current and which patches are required. GPO’s (Group Policy Objects) can be used to create individual update profiles for different machine groups, for instance providing a small group who get patches first, and allowing servers to be treated differently to other clients.