Windows update management: rings, deadlines and a brake
Updates that never install leave holes. Updates that install everywhere at once can take the whole office down. We run Windows updates in rings, so a bad update is caught on a few laptops and paused before it reaches everyone.
How we set it up
- Three update rings assigned to device groups: a pilot ring of a few people who cover your key applications and laptop models, a broad ring for everyone else, and a late ring for the few machines that can't afford a bad morning.
- Deadlines and grace periods on every ring, so updates do install, without restarting someone the moment they return from leave.
- A feature update policy that names the Windows version, so the annual upgrade happens when you decide.
- Driver updates approved through Intune with a delay before broad deployment, and firmware reviewed by hand.
- Old Group Policy and update-server settings removed, so they can't quietly override Intune.
When an update goes wrong
If the pilot ring shows a problem, we pause the rings that haven't updated yet, roll back where Intune allows it, and tell you what happened and what we did. When Microsoft ships the fix, we resume deliberately and watch the pilot again. For an urgent security fix, an expedite policy can push one update to every device straight away.
What you see
We check update status every month: devices behind on updates, devices waiting for a restart, and any Windows version near end of service. Your client portal, open 24/7, shows your asset register and security scores whenever you need them. Compliance policies flag devices that fall behind, and with Conditional Access a device that stays behind can lose access until it catches up.
The detail, checked against Microsoft's documentation, is in our Windows update rings guide.
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