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Updates, Updates, Updates: How to Fireproof Your Business-Critical Software

Lorna Crawford
Login VSI

As Ferris Bueller once said, "Life moves pretty fast." It is especially true for those of us working in IT.

Microsoft releases two major Windows 10 updates per year, and in addition 12 monthly updates for their operating system. Change is unrelenting and so are the potential dangers that accompany it.

Despite Microsoft being one of the largest, most trusted software vendors in the world, I could very likely find news articles pointing out failures with each new release over the last few years. These bugs can mean the applications you need to do your job don't function properly, or worst, don't work at all.

Of course, Microsoft is only one small part of the overall stack of your hardware and software and each element can require frequent changes that can impact you as an end-user. The fact is changes happen all the time in the overall VDI stack.

What Does Change Mean?


When you consider that the average end-user interacts with at least 8 applications, then think about how important those applications are in the overall success of the business and how often the interface between the application and the hardware needs to be updated, it's a potential minefield for business operations. Any single update could explode in your face at any time.

Given the ever-accelerating pace of IT change, how can businesses cope?

Safe Not Sorry

As lockdown restrictions ease, I'll be off on some campervan adventures around Scotland. I want to be able to cook safely and have off-grid heating (it is Scotland after all), which means using gas. Now, as you'll know, installing gas heating in a small confined space comes with the risk of Carbon Monoxide poisoning, and to be honest, my cooking often comes with the risk of fire! So, as I'm aware of the danger, I'm putting in smoke and CO detectors, plus installing a fire blanket and a fire extinguisher. I value my van and, more importantly, my life.

Likewise, any company managing an ever-changing software stack needs to consider the risks associated with putting blind trust into the hands of software vendors like Microsoft. My advice would be to de-risk frequent IT changes with a robust application testing strategy.

Start with automating the process of testing your applications and see if there are any problems with them after making updates to the hardware and software platforms they reside on. Preferably use a testing solution where synthetic users test all the typical activities that real users need to perform in your application. You then should be able to answer the following questions after each change to your environment:

■ Does the software work?

■ How long does it take to do each business-critical task?

■ Is the application response time within an acceptable range?

But what if you have fancy and custom-built applications? Look for a solution that can help you design custom scripts to test your custom applications.

Lorna Crawford is a Presales Engineer at Login VSI

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Businesses that face downtime or outages risk financial and reputational damage, as well as reducing partner, shareholder, and customer trust. One of the major challenges that enterprises face is implementing a robust business continuity plan. What's the solution? The answer may lie in disaster recovery tactics such as truly immutable storage and regular disaster recovery testing ...

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Updates, Updates, Updates: How to Fireproof Your Business-Critical Software

Lorna Crawford
Login VSI

As Ferris Bueller once said, "Life moves pretty fast." It is especially true for those of us working in IT.

Microsoft releases two major Windows 10 updates per year, and in addition 12 monthly updates for their operating system. Change is unrelenting and so are the potential dangers that accompany it.

Despite Microsoft being one of the largest, most trusted software vendors in the world, I could very likely find news articles pointing out failures with each new release over the last few years. These bugs can mean the applications you need to do your job don't function properly, or worst, don't work at all.

Of course, Microsoft is only one small part of the overall stack of your hardware and software and each element can require frequent changes that can impact you as an end-user. The fact is changes happen all the time in the overall VDI stack.

What Does Change Mean?


When you consider that the average end-user interacts with at least 8 applications, then think about how important those applications are in the overall success of the business and how often the interface between the application and the hardware needs to be updated, it's a potential minefield for business operations. Any single update could explode in your face at any time.

Given the ever-accelerating pace of IT change, how can businesses cope?

Safe Not Sorry

As lockdown restrictions ease, I'll be off on some campervan adventures around Scotland. I want to be able to cook safely and have off-grid heating (it is Scotland after all), which means using gas. Now, as you'll know, installing gas heating in a small confined space comes with the risk of Carbon Monoxide poisoning, and to be honest, my cooking often comes with the risk of fire! So, as I'm aware of the danger, I'm putting in smoke and CO detectors, plus installing a fire blanket and a fire extinguisher. I value my van and, more importantly, my life.

Likewise, any company managing an ever-changing software stack needs to consider the risks associated with putting blind trust into the hands of software vendors like Microsoft. My advice would be to de-risk frequent IT changes with a robust application testing strategy.

Start with automating the process of testing your applications and see if there are any problems with them after making updates to the hardware and software platforms they reside on. Preferably use a testing solution where synthetic users test all the typical activities that real users need to perform in your application. You then should be able to answer the following questions after each change to your environment:

■ Does the software work?

■ How long does it take to do each business-critical task?

■ Is the application response time within an acceptable range?

But what if you have fancy and custom-built applications? Look for a solution that can help you design custom scripts to test your custom applications.

Lorna Crawford is a Presales Engineer at Login VSI

Hot Topics

The Latest

According to Auvik's 2025 IT Trends Report, 60% of IT professionals feel at least moderately burned out on the job, with 43% stating that their workload is contributing to work stress. At the same time, many IT professionals are naming AI and machine learning as key areas they'd most like to upskill ...

Businesses that face downtime or outages risk financial and reputational damage, as well as reducing partner, shareholder, and customer trust. One of the major challenges that enterprises face is implementing a robust business continuity plan. What's the solution? The answer may lie in disaster recovery tactics such as truly immutable storage and regular disaster recovery testing ...

IT spending is expected to jump nearly 10% in 2025, and organizations are now facing pressure to manage costs without slowing down critical functions like observability. To meet the challenge, leaders are turning to smarter, more cost effective business strategies. Enter stage right: OpenTelemetry, the missing piece of the puzzle that is no longer just an option but rather a strategic advantage ...

Amidst the threat of cyberhacks and data breaches, companies install several security measures to keep their business safely afloat. These measures aim to protect businesses, employees, and crucial data. Yet, employees perceive them as burdensome. Frustrated with complex logins, slow access, and constant security checks, workers decide to completely bypass all security set-ups ...

Image
Cloudbrink's Personal SASE services provide last-mile acceleration and reduction in latency

In MEAN TIME TO INSIGHT Episode 13, Shamus McGillicuddy, VP of Research, Network Infrastructure and Operations, at EMA discusses hybrid multi-cloud networking strategy ... 

In high-traffic environments, the sheer volume and unpredictable nature of network incidents can quickly overwhelm even the most skilled teams, hindering their ability to react swiftly and effectively, potentially impacting service availability and overall business performance. This is where closed-loop remediation comes into the picture: an IT management concept designed to address the escalating complexity of modern networks ...

In 2025, enterprise workflows are undergoing a seismic shift. Propelled by breakthroughs in generative AI (GenAI), large language models (LLMs), and natural language processing (NLP), a new paradigm is emerging — agentic AI. This technology is not just automating tasks; it's reimagining how organizations make decisions, engage customers, and operate at scale ...

In the early days of the cloud revolution, business leaders perceived cloud services as a means of sidelining IT organizations. IT was too slow, too expensive, or incapable of supporting new technologies. With a team of developers, line of business managers could deploy new applications and services in the cloud. IT has been fighting to retake control ever since. Today, IT is back in the driver's seat, according to new research by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) ...

In today's fast-paced and increasingly complex network environments, Network Operations Centers (NOCs) are the backbone of ensuring continuous uptime, smooth service delivery, and rapid issue resolution. However, the challenges faced by NOC teams are only growing. In a recent study, 78% state network complexity has grown significantly over the last few years while 84% regularly learn about network issues from users. It is imperative we adopt a new approach to managing today's network experiences ...

Image
Broadcom

From growing reliance on FinOps teams to the increasing attention on artificial intelligence (AI), and software licensing, the Flexera 2025 State of the Cloud Report digs into how organizations are improving cloud spend efficiency, while tackling the complexities of emerging technologies ...