Remote working and bring-your-own device (BYOD)

Understand which devices and networks are at risk, and update them easily with minimal end-user impact.

Ready to upgrade to Windows 11

Discover, control, and seamlessly deliver OS updates when you are ready.

Microsoft Out-of-Band (OOB) updates

Be prepared to handle and secure your environment in unplanned situations.

Simple, powerful patching

Patch management

Get more comprehensive patching out of the box

Never miss a Microsoft patch, including OOB patches, feature and OS upgrades, updates for older operating systems, and updates for 100+ third-party applications.

Get patch management software you can rely on

Single-cycle patching reliably handles the entire update process, through patch and reboot.

Patch Managmnt features

Increase patch flexibility

Install only the patches you want, when you want them. Choose from a variety of device reboot options, including forced reboot, delay in and outside the window, and silent reboot.

Patch with more control

Allow a high level of granularity to set patch policies across a multi-tiered hierarchy—all organizations, specific departments and sites, custom groups, and even specific devices.

Patch anywhere

Patch anytime, anywhere

Deliver patches in-network, out-of-network, and even across closed network environments. Take advantage of advanced patch caching and deploy on schedule, on-demand, or wake devices as needed.

Get comprehensive patch reporting

Customized notifications, pop ups, and reporting keep you and your team in the loop, and easily help collect data for compliance regulations.

Patching for a growing catalog of third-party apps

logo Skype logo WinZip logo Drive logo Zoom logo Foxit

Powerful patching. Unbeatable expertise.

Powerful patch
Powerful patch

Patching made easy

Patching made easy

Simple, reliable patching with no scripting or cumbersome setup required.

Patching expertise and thought leadership

Patching expertise and thought leadership

Get access to free, expert guidance from N‑able’s Head Nerds as they discuss important patches and give you advice to help to strengthen your practice.

Experience matters

Experience matters

High patch success rate, trusted by some of the largest MSPs, with millions of devices updated every month.

“When it comes to remote monitoring and patch management, for servers, workstations, network devices, and VMware, N‑central is the best of the best. It cannot even be compared with other tools.

Mijo Pejic CEO and Lead System Engineer Comversum

Out-patching the competition

N‑able
N‑central

ConnectWise
Automate

Kaseya VSA

Datto RMM

Out-of-the-box OS and feature updates


Fully automated


Fully automated


Requires scripts


Fully automated

Microsoft Release Channels


Every class and severity of Microsoft patch, including OOB


Band B only


Band B only


Band B only

Microsoft classifications


Supports all Microsoft classifications


Supports all Microsoft classifications


Supports all Microsoft classifications


Supports all Microsoft classifications

Third-party patching support


100+ supported apps, which are in-house tested and verified for install success


List of supported apps from a third-party supplier leveraging an open community repository


100+ supported apps via a third-party supplier


In-house list of supported apps with some add-on scripted installs

Closed network and offline patching


Natively builds patch lists for use by devices with no internet connection


Not available


Requires manual upload of patches to a central server


Not available

Wake and patch support


Uses both Wake-on-LAN and Windows Power Management to wake both isolated and networked devices


Wake-on-LAN only


Wake-on-LAN only


Wake-on-LAN only

Patch auto-approval delay range with countdown


Fully automated and configurable approval delays with countdown


Requires manual interaction


Requires manual interaction


Requires manual interaction

Resources

N‑able N‑central Patch Management FAQ

Is there an additional cost for patch management?

Is there an additional cost for patch management?

No. Patch management—including third-party patching—is included as part of N‑central’s base functionality.

What are some patch management best practices?

What are some patch management best practices?

  1. Take a complete inventory of your customer’s infrastructure to make sure no software has been forgotten.
  2. Leverage automated patch management whenever possible and develop patch management policies to establish procedural standards for patching.
  3. Standardize configuration, hardware, and operating systems whenever possible to speed up patch management.
  4. Prioritize your patches and deploy the most critical ones first.
  5. Fully read the documentation on patches before deploying—this can help you determine whether or not a potential patch will help or harm your customer’s system.
  6. Deploy patches during off-peak hours so updates will not disturb your customer’s day-to-day operations.
  7. Document everything that happens before, during, and after the patching process for compliance and reporting purposes.

Can I control what software is installed during patch management?

Can I control what software is installed during patch management?

Yes. N‑central lets you optimize patch management by detecting software inventory and creating automation polices to remove unwanted software or install new software to right-size your application footprint.

Can I patch on a closed network?

Can I patch on a closed network?

Yes. N‑central lets you automatically create patch caches that can be stored and vetted before being automatically delivered to and deployed on the closed network.

How do I wake devices for patch management?

How do I wake devices for patch management?

N‑central maximizes the number of devices that you can patch by letting you use either Wake-on-LAN or Windows Power Management to wake devices for patching.

What third-party apps do you patch?

What third-party apps do you patch?

You can find a list of N‑central’s growing library of third-party applications supported for patching here.

Ready to secure your business with
N‑central patch management?

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