Microsoft Corp. recently made plans to update its Systems Management Server (SMS) software so it can launch patches from third-party software companies, update their client’s systems automatically, and check the system for potential vulnerabilities.

Kirill Tatarinov, VP, Enterprise Management Division, Microsoft said they will open their Systems Management Server software and bring patches from a variety of industry partners.

"It's not just Microsoft download center that SMS talks to, not just the Microsoft Windows Update site, it's also partners, ISVs and hardware vendors," he said. According to him, this will bring a new era of security management to systems running Microsoft software.

Tatarinov said the next version of SMS will have the vulnerability assessment feature available for enterprises to keep up with latest patches. It will automatically check for vulnerabilities to see if the systems are open to intruders.