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Windows Update Services Review
Patch management is one of the hottest topics today. The outspread of Nimda using Operating System holes showed that though Microsoft provided patches half a year before the outspread of the virus a lot of machines were not updated. Other "worm" viruses soon followed. Microsoft provided SUS v.1 which was a sort of corporate Windows Update, configurable using Group Policy or the registry. The first release was a bit buggy and was soon updated. However the tool is still a bit limited, not updating Microsoft applications nor providing any means to actually track whether computers are actually being updated.
Microsoft also provides a SMS 2003 tool that can update Office applications and has reporting features but is difficult to configure and requires a lot of attention.
Microsoft now is on its way to releasing Windows Updates Services (WUS), the successor to SUS, providing the much needed reporting features and able to update Office XP, 2003, Exchange 2003 and SQL (and MSDE) 2000. Other applications will probably be added over time. Continue at source.