Patent ID: 8838755

Claim:
A system for managing a network, comprising: one or more management servers to provide instructions for implementation by one or more managed nodes that are operatively coupled to the network and that are configured to run an application program, the one or more management servers comprising: a configuration management module to perform the following: receive a request that identifies changes to be implemented on the one or more managed nodes; select a model from a plurality of models associated with the changes, the plurality of models depicting various software applications and hardware components included in the network; provide a plurality of deployment profiles associated with the model, the deployment profiles including lists of criteria pertaining to implementation of the model, at least one of the lists of criteria including a number of applications that can be processed within a period of time; configure administration policies associated with a deployment profile selected from the plurality of deployment profiles; create change order instances from a chosen change template, the chosen change template based on the selected deployment profile, the change order instances including work flow definitions to be followed during implementation of the changes; validate the change order instances; and implement the changes based on the validated change order instances.