Facilitating Modernization via Outsourced Patch Management

Over the past several weeks, I had the opportunity to engage with various state government executives. Our discussions covered a broad spectrum of topics related to their aspirations for initiating cloud transformations. A prevailing theme that consistently emerged from these meetings was a sense of inertia. The current staff members are deeply engrossed in operational tasks, leaving them with limited bandwidth to dedicate to the crucial aspects of modernization, such as business case development, cloud training, and proof of concept work.

I have consistently encountered sentiments like these while assisting customers in the initial phases of evaluating cloud workload migration. Internally, we've strategized on how best to empower customers to shift their focus from day-to-day operations to future-oriented initiatives. Among the most impactful areas to relieve them of routine tasks is operational system patching. While patching remains crucial for all customers, its significance has escalated in the face of evolving cyber threats. In today's landscape, patching is not just important; it's more critical than ever.

Years ago, our managed services group began to leverage automation to simplify the patching process. We did this to provide our customers with three main benefits:

• Standardization: Automation allows you to define tasks in a playbook, which are then executed in a sequential manner. By automating the patching process through playbooks, you eliminate the need for manual intervention in each step. This reduces the chances of human errors and ensures a consistent and repeatable process.
• Consistency: Playbooks enable you to define the desired state of your Oracle databases after patching. This ensures that the patching process is applied uniformly across multiple database instances and environments, maintaining consistency in configuration and settings.
• Parallel Execution: Playbooks can execute tasks on multiple hosts simultaneously. This parallel execution capability accelerates the patching process, reducing the overall downtime for Oracle databases. This is particularly beneficial when dealing with a large number of database instances.

Mythics has recently decided to offer our playbooks for automated patching capabilities to our customers as a service offering within our managed services organization. Named "Patch Management as a Service," this program reflects our commitment to consistently assisting customers in delegating patching responsibilities. Our objective is not only to enhance security and keep systems current but also to liberate the valuable time of IT staff, allowing them to concentrate on crucial modernization activities.

To learn more about how Mythics can help with system patching, please reach out to my team or I to set up a demo.