Method and apparatus upgrade assistance using critical historical product information

A method of operating a computerized system to provide computer recommendation information for a plurality of computers, comprising:

• receiving machine information for the plurality of computers;
• storing the machine information to a history database;
• generating an operation profile for a computer using machine information specific to the computer, wherein the operation profile indicates at least a history profile and a usage trend for the computer;
• receiving system requirements specifications reflecting workload requirements for the computer not accounted for in the machine information;
• and
• generating a recommendation for at least one computer system solution which satisfies a desired usage of the computer.

A system for generating recommendation information for computer devices, comprising:

• a machine information collection system configured to receive machine information for a plurality of computers;
• a history database containing statistical information generated using the machine information;
• and
• a system sizer configured to produce system recommendations using at least one of the statistical information and third party solutions.