1. A method for updating hardware and software components of a cloud computing environment, the method comprising: monitoring usage statistics of said hardware and software components of said cloud computing environment; receiving user-selected thresholds for usage statistics of one or more of said monitored hardware and software components to be used to determine when to apply a patch; and applying, by a processor, said patch to a hardware or software component of said cloud computing environment in response to a monitored usage statistic of said hardware or software component meeting a user-selected threshold for said monitored usage statistic.