Patent ID: 7984436

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for enabling determination of whether a first software product is compatible with a second software product, wherein each software product includes a plurality of physical components, the method comprising: combining, by computer, physical components of the first software product into a first logical grouping based on a first common attribute, wherein the first logical grouping corresponds to an intermediate abstraction level between a level corresponding to a physical component and a level corresponding to a software product; combining physical components of the second software product into a second logical grouping based on a second common attribute; in response to determining that the second logical grouping is not compatible with the first logical grouping based on a corresponding entry of a compatibility matrix, identifying an alternate version of the second logical grouping that is compatible with the first logical grouping; and returning information about the alternate version of the second logical grouping to enable an installation action to be performed for the alternate version of the second logical grouping.