# How Entrust Software & IT Services made patch management measurable, trackable, and repeatable with ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus

## Key benefits

- Proactive, risk-based, largely automated patching replaced reactive, periodic WSUS workflows
- Automated patch deployment and centralized monitoring drastically reduce the vulnerability remediation window
- Patch compliance tracking, remediation records, and audit evidence available from a single console

## Company profile

![entrust-logo](https://cdn.manageengine.com/sites/meweb/images/patch-management/images/entrust-logo.jpeg)

- **Industry:** IT services
- **Location:** Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
- **Company Size:** Midsize enterprise (400 endpoints)
- **Competitors tried:** Patch My PC, Microsoft Intune, Microsoft Configuration Manager

Entrust Software & IT Services Pvt. Ltd is an IT services company in India with over 1,500 employees. The organization's IT team supports business-critical systems that require stable, secure, continuously available operations, managing 400 endpoints on Windows and Linux servers, laptops, and desktops.

## Business challenges

### Limited visibility and manual tracking of missing patches across 400 endpoints with WSUS

Before implementing ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus, Entrust managed patching through WSUS. In an environment with mission-critical servers and a distributed fleet of endpoints, patch management involved balancing securing the environment, maintaining availability, and ensuring business continuity through manual processes, and there was no clear approach to prioritizing patches according to risk.

### Operational risk from unscheduled reboots and poorly timed deployments on business-critical systems

WSUS provided basic Windows patch delivery, but the team had little visibility into the state of the environment. The administrative overhead was high, requiring manual tracking of missing patches, the identification of systems requiring attention, and the coordination of deployments across 400 endpoints. There was no single pane of glass for viewing patch statuses, finding compliance gaps, or tracking deployment progress across the estate at a glance.

### Long gap between identifying vulnerabilities and safe remediation, with manual audit evidence

Without flexible scheduling, maintenance window controls, and reboot management, the team had to approach patching as a careful, time-consuming exercise to avoid disrupting services. Manual identification of missing patches and the coordination necessary to deploy them safely meant that the time between the discovery of a vulnerability and its remediation was sometimes longer than ideal.

> **"Delayed patches could increase our vulnerability exposure, while poorly timed deployments could potentially impact business operations. Patch Manager Plus helped us change the way we approached patch management. Instead of treating patching as a periodic IT activity, we moved toward a more centralized, automated, risk-based process."**
>
> — Sermabalan S., Senior System Administrator, Entrust Software & IT Services

## Evaluating the market

Before selecting Patch Manager Plus, Entrust evaluated Patch My PC, Microsoft Intune, and Microsoft Configuration Manager. After comparing all options against the team's requirements for automation, cross-platform coverage, compliance readiness, and the operational constraints of managing business-critical systems, the company chose Patch Manager Plus based on multiple factors:

| Decision factor | What it meant for Entrust |
|---|---|
| Automated patch management | Reduced manual effort through scheduled deployments and automated workflows, replacing WSUS-era manual coordination. |
| Cross-platform and third-party patching | Coverage across Windows and Linux, including third-party applications, that the previous patching solution could not provide. |
| Minimal user disruption | Flexible scheduling, maintenance window controls, and reboot management to protect business-critical operations. |
| Ease of use and deployment | Straightforward enough for the IT team to operate across 400 endpoints without heavy specialist overhead. |
| Cost and value | A competitive price point against WSUS, Patch My PC, Microsoft Intune, and Microsoft Configuration Manager with a broader feature set. |
| Centralized visibility and reporting | A single dashboard for patch statuses, missing patches, deployment failures, and compliance gaps across the full estate. |
| Scalability across distributed endpoints | Distribution server architecture for enabling patch content to be distributed locally without WAN bandwidth overhead. |

## The Patch Manager Plus solution

Entrust has deployed Patch Manager Plus across its endpoint estate. The team successfully replaced WSUS and manual coordination with a centralized, automated, severity-based patch management process that includes automated deployment, distribution server architecture, scheduled maintenance windows, prioritization based on vulnerabilities, and continuous compliance reporting.

### Automated patch deployment and vulnerability-based prioritization

Automation is the capability that has most fundamentally changed how the team works. Instead of manually identifying missing patches and coordinating deployments, the team uses Patch Manager Plus, which provides a centralized platform for identifying vulnerabilities, prioritizing patches by their criticality, and automating deployment based on operational requirements. Critical security vulnerabilities are addressed faster, and regular updates follow defined patching cycles. The time between identifying a vulnerability and completing remediation has been reduced significantly as a result.

### Distribution server architecture

Managing patch deployment across distributed systems requires more than automation alone. Distribution servers act as local distribution points for endpoints in each network location, downloading patch content locally rather than routing every endpoint through the central server or across WAN links. This has significantly reduced WAN bandwidth consumption and improved deployment efficiency, particularly for larger patch packages.

### Scheduled maintenance windows and reboot controls

For business-critical systems, the ability to control when patches are applied and when reboots happen is as important as the patching itself. Scheduled deployments and maintenance window controls ensure patches go out during approved periods without interrupting services or users. The team manages reboot timing through deployment policies, keeping the patching process predictable and minimizing its impact on operations.

### Centralized patch visibility and compliance reporting

The centralized dashboard gives the team a clear, current picture of patch statuses, missing patches, deployment failures, and compliance gaps across all endpoints. Systems requiring attention are identified quickly, remediation progress is tracked, and exceptions are documented. For compliance and auditing purposes, this visibility replaces the manual evidence gathering process the team previously relied on.

> **"Patch Manager Plus has helped us turn patch compliance into a continuous, measurable process rather than a periodic audit exercise. It gives our team the visibility and control needed to meet patching SLAs, respond quickly to critical vulnerabilities, and maintain a stronger, audit-ready security posture."**
>
> — Sermabalan S., Senior System Administrator, Entrust Software & IT Services

## Results and impact

Since deploying Patch Manager Plus, Entrust has moved from a reactive, WSUS-dependent patching model to a proactive, automated, continuously measurable patch management process:

| Challenges before | Outcomes after |
|---|---|
| WSUS had limited visibility, no third-party patching, and manual coordination overhead. | Centralized patch management covers Windows, Linux, and third-party applications from a single console, with automated deployment replacing manual coordination. |
| Vulnerability remediation was dependent on manual identification and follow-ups, leaving systems exposed for longer. | Automated patch deployment and centralized monitoring reduce the time between identifying a vulnerability and completing remediation. |
| Patch downloads consumed WAN bandwidth across distributed endpoints. | The distribution server architecture delivers patch content locally at each network location, significantly reducing WAN bandwidth consumption and improving deployment efficiency. |
| Maintenance windows and reboot timing were uncontrolled, risking disruptions to business-critical systems. | Scheduled deployments and reboot controls align patching with approved maintenance windows, keeping business-critical systems stable throughout. |
| Patch management was a periodic activity rather than a continuous security control. | Patch management is now a continuous, measurable, auditable process embedded in the organization's security and compliance strategy. |

The ROI from implementing Patch Manager Plus at Entrust is reflected in improvements to operational efficiency, IT team capacity, network performance, and security posture. With automated workflows and centralized management, much of patch identification, deployment coordination, and compliance tracking now runs without manual intervention.

Distribution servers have optimized bandwidth by eliminating unnecessary patch downloads across WAN links. Improved patch visibility and faster remediation have reduced the window of exposure to known vulnerabilities.

> **"The most important outcome for us using Patch Manager Plus is that patch management is now measurable, trackable, and repeatable rather than dependent on manual effort."**
>
> — Sermabalan S., Senior System Administrator, Entrust Software & IT Services

## Looking ahead

Entrust has a solid, scalable patch management foundation with Patch Manager Plus. Automated patching, the distribution server architecture, maintenance window controls, severity-based prioritization, and continuous compliance reporting all run from a single platform across 400 Windows and Linux endpoints.

As the organization grows and its endpoint estate expands, Patch Manager Plus gives the IT team the capacity to maintain the same security posture and compliance standards without the administrative overhead scaling with the estate. Patches deploy on schedule, vulnerabilities are remediated faster, and compliance evidence is available on demand from the same console the team uses every day.

### Features

![automated-patch-deployment](https://www.manageengine.com/ems/images/icon/case-study-compliance.svg)

#### Automated patch deployment

![distribution-servers](https://www.manageengine.com/ems/images/icon/case-study-remote-control.svg)

#### Distribution servers

![compliance-reporting](https://www.manageengine.com/ems/images/icon/case-study-patch-management.svg)

#### Compliance reporting

## Results

- 400 Windows and Linux endpoints managed from a single patch management console.
- WSUS replaced with automated, risk-based patching across OS and third-party applications.
- Distribution servers reduced WAN bandwidth use and improved deployment efficiency.
- Continuous, audit-ready patch compliance tracking with maintenance window and reboot controls.