Anticipated benefits Reduced downtime because of software failures; mitigated risk of attack from hackers; and lower costs than manually applying patches.
Hurdle No one-size-fits-all patch management tool available yet, which requires customers to purchase more than one product to cover all systems and software.
Cost Varies by application and environment; $8.50 to $100 per workstation per year and $20 to $2,500 per server per year, depending on product and configuration.
Vendors
BigFix www.bigfix.comBigFix Patch Manager 3.0
Configuresoft
www.configuresoft.comECM Security Update Manager
Ecora www.ecora.comEcora Patch Manager
LANDesk Group www.landesk.comLANDesk Management Suite
Kintana www.kintana.comKintana Change Manager
Microsoft www.microsoft.com Software Update Services
Novadigm www.novadigm.com Radia Patch Manager
On Technology www.on.comOn iCommand
PatchLink www.patchlink.com PatchLink Update
Shavlik Technologies
www.shavlik.comHFNetChkPro
St. Bernard Software
www.stbernard.comUpdateExpert
