In a method for making a recommendation for installing a software patch on a target computer, a computer identifies a first and a second set of computers from a group of computers. Each computer in the first set has hardware and software components, which are identical to each other or differ from each other by less than a predetermined measure. Each computer in the second set has hardware and software components, which are identical to each other or differ from each other by less than a predetermined measure. The computer selects one of the first and the second sets of computers such that the selected set of computers includes a higher number of computers with the software patch already installed.