Patent ID: 8645513

Claim:
A method for adding an Information Technology (IT) structure A to an IT structure X having a composition, said method comprising: receiving a first list of all dependencies of elements in the composition of X; after said receiving the first list, determining that no dependency of any element E in the composition of X in the first list of dependencies has an exclusion with a class Y to which A belongs; receiving a second list of all dependencies of A; after said receiving the second list, determining that no dependency of A in the second list of dependencies has an exclusion with a class Z to which an element E in the composition of X belongs; after said determining that no dependency of any element E in the composition of X in the first list of dependencies has an exclusion with a class Y to which A belongs and after said determining that no dependency of A in the second list of dependencies has an exclusion with a class Z to which an element E in the composition of X belongs, ensuring that A's dependencies are satisfied followed by adding A to X, wherein said ensuring that A's dependencies are satisfied comprises: creating an abstract structure instance satisfying one dependency of A's dependencies; adding the abstract structure instance to the composition of X; creating an abstract IT relationship between the abstract structure instance and A; and adding the abstract IT relationship to X, wherein X is selected from the group consisting of a first abstract IT structure, a first virtual IT structure, and a first real IT structure, wherein A is selected from the group consisting of a second abstract IT structure, a second virtual IT structure, and a second real IT structure, wherein each abstract IT structure of the first abstract IT structure and the second abstract IT structure comprises at least one abstract IT entity, wherein each virtual IT structure of the first virtual IT structure and the second virtual IT structure comprises at least one virtual IT entity and does not comprise any abstract IT entity, wherein each real IT structure of the first real IT structure and the second real IT structure comprises at least one real IT entity and does not comprise any abstract IT entity and does not comprise any virtual IT entity, wherein each abstract IT entity of said at least one abstract IT entity and said any abstract IT entity comprises at least two undefined characteristics, wherein each virtual IT entity of said at least one virtual IT entity and said any virtual IT entity comprises one and only one undefined characteristic, wherein the first virtual IT structure and the second virtual IT structure are not delivery bound and cannot be deployed in an IT delivery environment, wherein each real IT entity of said at least one real IT entity does not comprise any undefined characteristic and can be deployed in the IT delivery environment.