Patent ID: 8140609

Claim:
A method for consolidating N elements of an enterprise Information Technology (TT) structure that consists of L elements, L being a positive integer of at least 2, N being a specified positive integer of at least 2 subject to N not exceeding L, said method comprising: generating, by a hardware computer processor of a computer system, all combinations of M elements of the N elements, wherein M is a specified positive integer of at least 1 and less than N, each combination being an IT structure of the M elements that said each combination consists of; said processor ascertaining one or more pairs of combinations selected from said all combinations such that each ascertained pair consists of an IT structure S 1 and an IT structure S 2 which are specifically congruent with respect to each other, and wherein said specifically congruent is selected from the group consisting of composition congruent such that S 1 and S 2 have identical primitive compositions, topologically congruent with respect to an IT relationship class R having subclasses such that S 1 and S 2 have identical sets of IT relationships of class R and of the subclasses of class R, interface congruent such that S 1 and S 2 have identical sets of external IT interfaces, said composition congruent and said topologically congruent, said composition congruent and said interface congruent, said topologically congruent and said interface congruent, and said composition congruent and said topologically congruent and said interface congruent; and said processor consolidating at least one pair of combinations selected from said one or more pairs of combinations into a consolidated enterprise IT structure, wherein said consolidating each pair P reduces a goal function G that is a function of a total cost of ownership (TCO) of the enterprise IT structure, a cost (CC) of performing consolidation operations for the pair P, and a cost (CH) of new hardware required for each said consolidating the pair P.