Change management using collective data

A computer program product comprising a computer usable storage medium storing computer usable program code for providing information associated with configuration changes to a computer system, the computer program product including:

• computer usable program code for receiving a description of a starting configuration and a description of a configuration change;
• computer usable program code for linking the description of the starting configuration and the description of the configuration change;
• computer usable program code for reading a record linked to the description of a configuration change, wherein the record includes advice about the configuration change and a total result value indicating a rate of success of the configuration change when the advice is followed;
• computer usable program code for receiving a first result value from the user indicating a result of the configuration change in light of the advice, responsive to execution of the configuration change by the user;
• and
• computer usable program code for calculating a new total result value that indicates a rate of success of the configuration change based on the total result value and the first result value.

A computer for providing information associated with configuration changes to a computer system, comprising:

• a repository for storing:
• a description of a starting configuration linked to a description of a configuration change;
• and
• a record linked to the description of a configuration change, wherein the record includes advice about the configuration change and a total result value indicating a rate of success of the configuration change when the advice is followed;
• a user interface for receiving a first result value from the user indicating a result of the configuration change in light of the advice, responsive to execution of the configuration change by the user;
• and
• a processor configured for calculating a new total result value that indicates a rate of success of the configuration change based on the total result value and the first result value.