Let me start with a confession: I’ve broken more things with patches than I’d like to admit. And if you’re an IT admin, you probably have too. Patching, while essential, is a bit like servicing your boiler - a necessary evil that no one really enjoys, but you definitely notice when it’s neglected.

Now, imagine if someone came along and said, "You know what? We’ll take care of that for you." That someone is Microsoft, and the solution is Windows Autopatch - and as of April 2025, it’s now included in Microsoft 365 Business Premium. Cue the collective sigh of relief from IT departments everywhere.

So, what exactly is Windows Autopatch? In essence, it’s Microsoft's automated patch management service for Windows, Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise, Edge and Teams. It ensures your devices stay up to date - without you needing to manually push out updates or wrestle with group policies.

Let’s back up a second. Why is patching so important? Well, in the past, we used to wait for Patch Tuesday - the second Tuesday of each month - to roll out the latest security fixes and updates. But the world moves faster now. New vulnerabilities are discovered daily. That monthly cycle? It’s no longer good enough. Cyberattacks don’t wait for a calendar invite.

The trouble is, patching can be risky. Updates have a nasty habit of breaking things. That’s why many businesses delay them. But the longer you wait, the more vulnerable your systems become. It’s a classic catch-22.

This is where Windows Autopatch enters like a silent hero. It’s built with a few clever features:

1. Deployment Rings - Think of these as safety nets. Devices are grouped into rings (Test, First, Fast, Broad), so updates roll out gradually. If something goes wrong in the test ring, the rollout halts before it hits the entire organisation.

2. Intelligent Scheduling - Autopatch staggers updates based on user activity, critical workloads, and working hours, aiming to minimise disruption.

3. Rollback Support - If an update does break something, there’s a built-in rollback mechanism to get you back on track.

4. Reporting and Insights - You get dashboards in the Microsoft Intune portal to monitor deployment status and compliance.

Setting it up is relatively straightforward. First, you need devices enrolled in Microsoft Intune and Azure AD. Then you configure device groups in Entra ID (formerly Azure AD), assign them to deployment rings in Autopatch, and set your update cadence. It’s all done in the Endpoint Management admin centre.

And because this is now bundled into Microsoft 365 Business Premium, SMBs who might’ve previously thought this was an enterprise-only feature can now reap the benefits - without any additional cost.

Let’s not kid ourselves - no solution is perfect. There will always be edge cases, legacy applications that misbehave, or stubborn devices that don’t play nicely. But Autopatch takes a huge amount of pain out of the process.

The TL;DR? Windows Autopatch means less firefighting, more peace of mind. You don’t need to be a massive IT department to benefit from intelligent patch management anymore. Just a Business Premium licence and a bit of know-how.

So maybe - just maybe - Patch Tuesday is finally on its way out.