Patent ID: 7437341

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for identifying a software-system architecture that is suitable for a project for an organization, said method comprising the steps of: a) receiving from a user interface plural criteria that must be met by the software-system architecture that the user is designing, and storing the plural criteria in a database; b) processing the criteria using a rules engine to determine a set of at least one potential architecture that meets the criteria, wherein the at least one potential architecture includes a plurality of software-architecture components; c) receiving from the user interface a user instruction accepting a project architecture from the set of at least one potential architecture; d) evaluating whether the project architecture meets a plurality of requirements imposed by the organization, and assigning a score to the project architecture, based on the evaluation; e) comparing the assigned score to a predefined score that defines a level of conformity to the requirements such that the user is authorized to adopt the project architecture for the project without farther management oversight; and f) providing to the user interface an identifier of the project architecture and an indication of whether the project architecture is suitable for the project based on the comparison of the assigned score to the predefined score.