As IT professionals, all of us attain a sure level in our IT profession the place we notice that a few of our on a regular basis duties are completed the identical method yr after yr with out anybody questioning why it is completed that method.
Despite the fixed change and enchancment in know-how, some issues simply get completed the identical ineffective method with none actual thought behind it as a result of “that is the way in which it is all the time been completed.”
A typical instance: patching
Month in, month out, a day comes alongside that’s devoted to patching.
Patching could also be extra automated than earlier than since you not must log into every system to patch and reboot tediously. It’s a step ahead, however the patching course of stays the identical.
Patching is disruptive, gradual, error-prone, and infrequently quick sufficient to maintain up with new vulnerabilities. Why disruptive? We all know that each time a upkeep window comes alongside, Bob from accounting will remind everybody how “the corporate’s IT goes to mess up our week.”
He’s proper, in fact, as a result of performing patching the way in which it is all the time completed impacts a enterprise by fully stopping operations or slowing all the things down. Companies and their stakeholders do not prefer it, and it implies that patching reinforces the thought of IT as a cash sink inside a corporation somewhat than a driver of enterprise worth.
Room for enchancment… however no enchancment
Patching can be gradual. Assuming a month-to-month timeframe and lots of hours of labor each time, patching as it has been completed all these years is simply too gradual to be an efficient deterrent for cyber incidents however time-consuming sufficient that it all the time feels prefer it’s taking too lengthy to do.
But if we have been patching the identical method all these years, certainly we’re doing it that method as a result of it’s foolproof, proper? Not a lot, and that is true for a lot of different prevalent IT practices, too, the place there’s simply no good motive for the way issues are completed.
Concerning patching, each sysadmin would establish with a narrative the place…simply the opposite day…as an alternative of choosing solely the hot-spare internet servers for patching, the administration instrument by some means deployed patches to the entire internet servers, which then rebooted all of them on the similar time.
Those internet servers took some time to come back again up, and naturally, Bob from accounting rapidly identified that the corporate misplaced “a ton of cash” in misplaced gross sales throughout the downtime.
Bob is typically annoying like that as a result of, but once more, he is proper. However, patching has all the time been completed this fashion, so everybody continues to do it this fashion – and Bob will hold complaining as a result of IT practices do not change.
Sometimes a greater method is already on the market
Here’s the eye-opener half that gives a lesson for each case of “we have all the time completed it that method in IT”: there are safer, extra environment friendly, disruption-free methods to carry out patching.
For a few years, reside patching has provided an alternative choice to the previous method of patching. It has been examined totally and works flawlessly for organizations, delivering appreciable advantages. Why is it not used universally?
Live patching makes the method quicker, although “speedy” is a good higher phrase. Live patching can be much less error-prone, and there’s no disruption. Live patches are auditable and reversible and function fast safety towards new threats.
Yet, for some motive, reside patching is not universally adopted, and the one rationalization for that’s resistance to vary, although some groups could merely not be that effectively knowledgeable.
Find a greater method? Adopt it
Understandably, cutting-edge, untested know-how is not for everybody. But ignoring a tried and examined know-how that improves outcomes is rarely a good suggestion.
Maybe it is time to modernize operations by shifting gears and adopting the most recent method of doing issues. IT practitioners ought to keep conscious of adjusting practices and be careful for higher methods to do issues. We must query whether or not our on a regular basis observe displays greatest practices.
Do that, and we’d discover that Bob stops complaining about IT.
This article is written and sponsored by TuxCare, the trade chief in enterprise-grade Linux automation. TuxCare presents unmatched ranges of effectivity for builders, IT safety managers, and Linux server directors searching for to affordably improve and simplify their cybersecurity operations. TuxCare’s Linux kernel reside safety patching, and customary and enhanced assist providers help in securing and supporting over a million manufacturing workloads.