Intuit Pushes Into Windows Patch Management

Patch Manager, which targets small- and mid-sized businesses, scans, assesses, deploys, and validates Microsoft Windows patches. It lets administrators schedule scans, install missing patches, and re-boot systems remotely.

When new patches are released by Microsoft, Patch Manager offers up advice on the potential risk of the vulnerability, and whether the patch is necessary. Administrators can track deployed patches though more than 20 reports, said Intuit.

The software is available now to users of Track-It!, Deploy, and Network Monitor, but a free stand-alone trial edition can be downloaded from Intuit's Web site.

Patch Manager comes out of Intuit's Information Technology Solutions (ITS) unit, founded after the Mountain View, Calif.-based personal finance and tax preparation software maker bought Track It!'s creator, Blue Ocean Software, in 2002 for $177 million.

During a conference call last week announcing its third-quarter results, Intuit executives said they were putting ITS on the block, and would avoid future acquisitions that don't complement its core business of QuickBooks, the leading small business accounting software, or Quicken or TurboTax.