Patch Management Compliance
Percentage of systems patched within defined SLA timeframes
Current Value
92%
+7% from previous period
Industry average: 78%
Calculation Method
(Number of systems patched within SLA / Total number of systems requiring patches) × 100%, measured monthly and categorized by criticality
Significance
This KPI measures the effectiveness of your vulnerability patching process, which is critical for reducing the attack surface and preventing exploitation of known vulnerabilities.
Definition
Patch Management Compliance measures the percentage of systems that are patched within the timeframes defined in your Service Level Agreements (SLAs). These SLAs typically vary based on vulnerability severity and system criticality (e.g., critical vulnerabilities on production systems must be patched within 48 hours).
Significance
Timely patching is one of the most effective ways to reduce security risk. Many successful breaches exploit known vulnerabilities for which patches were available but not applied.
This KPI helps security teams track their ability to remediate vulnerabilities quickly, identify systems that consistently miss patching deadlines, and demonstrate improvement in vulnerability management capabilities over time.
Calculation Method
The calculation includes:
- Count of systems patched within defined SLA timeframes
- Total count of systems requiring patches
- Formula: (Patched within SLA / Total requiring patches) × 100%
Note: Typical SLAs by severity:
• Critical: 24-48 hours
• High: 7 days
• Medium: 30 days
• Low: 90 days
Current Performance
Our current patch compliance has improved from 85% to 92% over the past 12 months. Critical vulnerabilities have the highest compliance rate at 98%, while medium severity patches have the lowest at 87%.
Benchmark
Industry average: 78% compliance with patching SLAs
Best practice target: >95% for critical and high severity; >90% overall