Kevin McDonald, Contributor
Profit acquisition models for security integrators and resellers shifted years ago from selling hardware and software to value-added and managed security services. Those who failed to adjust are gone. We are now at another precipice of change: VARs that traditionally profited from wrapping “value” security services around hardware and software face a new reality because margins are being pushed down by core security hardware and software vendors unapologetically going direct, leveraging mega…
Smoke testing is a term used to describe the testing process for servers after patches are applied. 
Estimating an average time for patching servers and PCs can be a bit tricky. It can vary from one month to the next, depending upon the number and complexity of the patches released by your software vendors. You must consider all versions of operating systems and have a complete inventory of all your application software to do this job correctly. Our experience has shown that manual patching of systems takes on average of about 1.5 hours each.
This is a basic cost calculator for you to compute your typical monthly cost for patching your servers, PCs, laptops, tablets and associated application software. It also forms the basis for you to begin calculating your Return on Investment for software patching, or for comparison with alternatives to the manual process of patching operating systems and application software—such as Patch Management as a Service, also known as Vulnerability Management as a Service.