Patent ID: 8291382

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for assessing environment specific maintenance actions, comprising: identifying a maintenance update for a specific environment including one or more computer systems, wherein the maintenance update addresses a known problem; applying factors to determine an assessment index for the known problem as a function of the specific environment, wherein the assessment index indicates a level of installation criticality relative to the specific environment; outputting an installation recommendation for the identified maintenance update in response to determining the assessment index; establishing a weighting value for each of the factors; applying the weighting value to each of the factors to determine the assessment index; storing user decisions regarding installation of the maintenance update; and wherein the factors include a level of importance as a function of one or more defect attributes associated with the known problem, a level of exposure to the known problem in the specific environment, and policies of the specific environment; wherein the polices include an acceptable age of the maintenance update and specific components.