Today, experts voiced their opinion that although customers may love the fact that Google Chromebook will automatically deliver security updates, company administrators shall leave no stone unturned to contest this.

The ‘notebooks’—which shall initially come from Samsung and Acer and*go on sale next month—will be equipped with Google’s Chrome OS and run only online applications. Google targets consumers, businesses, and schools, with the last two able to purchase them on a subscription basis ($28 per business user and $20 per school and public sector user). As the Chromebooks were announced, senior Vice President of Google, Sundar Pichai said on Wednesday that the service encompassed both hardware and software.

Analysts view Google’s move as one that is aimed straight at the enterprise, but one Chromebook feature will pause businesses. Chrome OS—like Google’s Chrome browser will deliver updates in the background without intimating or informing users. Google refuses to call the updates patches. Google will provide a Web-based management console to the IT administrators, but this will not allow them manage or modify Chrome OS updates on their delivery. This, according to analysts and researchers will be a hard sell. Jason Miller, the data and security team manager for Shavlik Technologies expresses personal concern. He states that a good patch management policy is to test the updates prior to their deployment. That is not the case here, leaving you at the mercy of Google. Jeremiah Grossman, CTO of WhiteHat Security says that this might never work for IT. The reason is that administrators ought to guarantee smooth operation along with the security of their networks. Google is not the in the dock if a patch in a Chrome OS update loses compatibility with an existing Web application or cripples the machine. Miller adds that administrators would want control over updates. He adds that if the machines go down, it is their job.

Costin Raiu, a senior malware researcher with antivirus vendor Kaspersky Lab, goes further to add that this could mean that you don’t own the hardware, but someone else does. On platforms— particularly Windows, which caters to a massive majority of enterprise computers—administrators enjoy that control. IT personnel can decide machines to be updated and delay their actions till they have tested the impact of the patches on a few PCs through software such as Windows Server Update Services.

None of this is available with Chrome OS’s automatic updating. In fact, an online FAQ clarifies that Google won't warn administrators about an update coming. It adds that Google does not pre-announce Chrome OS updates before they are rolled out.

Chrome browser follows this same ‘no-warning’ process. Google views this automation as being helpful. The FAQ says that when a user will turn on his PC, a Chromebook shall automatically upgrade itself with the latest features available thus incorporating the latest and the most secure versions. Miller admits that this will save time for administrators. However, he expresses skepticism as to whether the Chromebooks may actually be up-to-date. He cites Abode as an example where the update notifications are known for fail regularly resulting in a nightmare for businesses.