Patch and update basics
Intune already tracks the fleet— closing the loop is still a habit.
Intune already knows which devices exist and what compliance policy applies to them. Patch and update basics is the recurring habit of actually looking at that information—confirming update rings are working, and catching the device that quietly fell behind.
Book a scoping callWhere patch cadence slips
Four familiar gaps.
- Update rings
An update ring nobody's checked in months
Windows update deferral settings were configured once at rollout and never revisited.
- Silent failures
A device that stopped reporting patch status
It shows as enrolled and compliant, but the last real update check was weeks ago.
- App updates
Microsoft 365 apps left on an old build
Office apps auto-update in most cases, but exceptions and deferred channels can leave a handful of machines behind.
- Reboot debt
Updates downloaded but never installed
A patch needs a restart that keeps getting postponed until the device is meaningfully behind.
What this is—and is not
Basics, kept current.
Basics kept current, not a full remote monitoring and management platform.
This is not third-party application patching across every tool your team happens to install, real-time remediation, or a dedicated RMM platform with its own alerting console. What ongoing care actually does is smaller and honest: confirm Windows update rings are still applying as configured, check that Microsoft 365 apps are current, and give devices that have gone quiet since the last review a specific look.
That's enough to catch the most common failure mode—an update setting that was correct at rollout and silently stopped working months later. It isn't a substitute for a dedicated endpoint management platform when the fleet or the risk profile calls for one.
What belongs in the monthly view
Five recurring checks.
- Windows update rings still apply as configured, tenant-wide
- Devices that haven't reported a successful update check since the last review are identified by name
- Microsoft 365 apps are on a current, supported channel across the fleet
- Devices with a pending restart are flagged rather than left indefinitely
- Any device that can't be brought current through standard policy is escalated, not quietly ignored
When basics aren't enough
Full RMM, third-party patching, and real-time alerting are a separate, larger scope.
A business that needs every third-party application patched automatically, a live alerting console, or remote scripting across the fleet needs a dedicated RMM platform built for that job—not an extension quietly layered onto per-user Microsoft 365 administration. Patch basics is the recurring habit that keeps what Intune already tracks honest; it isn't a rebrand of that larger category.
Connect this to the rest of care