1. An apparatus for assigning severity to a software update, the apparatus comprising a computer processor, a computer memory operatively coupled to the computer processor, the computer memory having disposed within it computer program instructions that, when executed by the computer processor, cause the apparatus to carry out the steps of: receiving, by an update manager, version information for a software application from a computing system, the version information describing a version of the software application installed on the computing system; determining, by the update manager, a severity level of one or more available updates for the software application in dependence upon the version information and update version information, including: determining a number of updates between the version of the software application installed on the computing system and each of the one or more available updates for the software application; and determining the severity level of one or more available updates for the software application in dependence upon a plurality of predetermined thresholds and the number of updates between the version of the software application installed on the computing system and each of the one or more available updates for the software application; and providing, by the update manager to the computing system, the severity level for each of the one or more available updates; determining, by the update manager, an update path between the version of the software application installed on the computing system and each of the one or more available updates for the software application; selecting, in dependence upon the severity level for each of the one or more available updates, an update for installation on the computing system; and installing the update selected for installation on the computing system, including installing each update in the update path between the version of the software application installed on the computing system and the update selected for installation on the computing system.