Managing characteristics variation within software solution packages

1. An article of manufacture including a non-transitory computer readable storage medium to tangibly store instructions, which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

display one or more identifiers corresponding to one or more solution packages;

receive a user selection of a solution package from the one or more solution packages;

based upon the selection of the solution package, render a list including at least one of one or more industries and one or more countries supported by the selected solution package;

receive a user selection of at least one of one or more countries and one or more industries from the rendered list;

based upon the selection of the at least one of the one or more countries and the one or more industries, render a bill-of-material (BOM) including one or more modeling elements associated with the solution package;

receive a user selection of a modeling element from the one or more modeling elements, wherein the modeling element comprises one or more characteristics; and

based upon the user selection of the modeling element, provide one or more configuration blocks to configure the selected solution package by setting the corresponding one or more characteristics of the modeling element.

2. The article of manufacture of claim 1 , wherein the identifier comprises at least one of textual labels and symbols and the modeling element comprises a business scenario, a business process associated with the business scenario, or a process step associated with the business process, and wherein the characteristic comprises a country, an industry, or a product associated with the modeling element.

3. The article of manufacture of claim 1 , wherein the configuration block comprises:

a selectable core to specify one or more predefined values of the characteristic; and

a characteristic vector to specify one or more user specified values of the characteristic, wherein the characteristic vector includes at least two fields and wherein one of the two fields is configured to receive one or more values of the characteristic and another of the two fields is configured to receive a selection criteria for respective values of the characteristic.

4. The article of manufacture of claim 3 , wherein the selection criteria comprises one of:

an option for including the value of the characteristic; and

an option for excluding the value of the characteristic.

5. The article of manufacture of claim 3 , wherein when the core is selected, the modeling element is applicable for the predefined values of the characteristic except for the values excluded by the selection criteria and wherein when the core is unselected, the modeling element is applicable for one of:

the one or more values of the characteristic included by the selection criteria; and

one or more predefined values of the characteristics.

6. The article of manufacture of claim 3 , wherein the modeling element has a plurality of values corresponding to a plurality of characteristics and wherein when a feature of the modeling element is different for at least two of the plurality of values, a resultant feature of the modeling element applicable for combination of the two values is determined by a deviation rule.

7. The article of manufacture of claim 6 , wherein the feature comprises one of:

a name of the modeling element;

a description of the modeling element; and

a flow diagram of the modeling element.

8. The article of manufacture of claim 6 , wherein the deviation rule includes the resultant feature as one of:

a combination of features of each of the plurality of values; and

a predefined feature.

9. A computer-implemented method for managing characteristics variations within solution packages, the method comprising:

displaying one or more identifiers corresponding to one or more solution packages;

receiving a user selection of a solution package from the one or more solution packages;

based upon the selection of the solution package, rendering a list comprising two columns, wherein one of the two columns includes a plurality of industries supported by the selected solution package and another of the two columns includes a plurality of countries supported by the selected solution package;

receiving a user selection of at least one country from the plurality of countries and at least one industry from the plurality of industries from the rendered list;

based upon the selection of the at least one country and the at least one industry, identifying one or more modeling elements associated with the solution package;

receiving a user selection of a modeling element from the one or more modeling elements, wherein the modeling element comprises one or more characteristics; and

based upon the user selection of the modeling element, providing one or more configuration blocks to configure the selected solution package by setting the corresponding one or more characteristics of the modeling element.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the identifier comprises at least one of textual labels and symbols and the modeling element comprises a business scenario, a business process associated with the business scenario, or a process step associated with the business process, and wherein the characteristic comprises a country, an industry, or a product associated with the modeling element.

11. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

providing a selectable core within the configuration block to specify one or more predefined values of the characteristic; and

providing a characteristic vector within the configuration block to specify one or more user specified values of the characteristic, wherein the characteristic vector includes at least two fields and wherein one of the two fields is configured to receive one or more values of the characteristic and another of the two fields is configured to receive a selection criteria for respective values of the characteristic.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the selection criteria comprises one of:

an option for including the value of the characteristic; and

an option for excluding the value of the characteristic.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein when the core is selected the modeling element is applicable for the predefined values of the characteristic except for the values excluded by the selection criteria and wherein when the core is unselected, the modeling element is applicable for one of:

the one or more values of the characteristic included by the selection criteria; and

one or more predefined values of the characteristics.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the modeling element comprises a plurality of values corresponding to a plurality of characteristics and wherein when a feature of the modeling element is different for at least two of the plurality of values, a resultant feature of the modeling element applicable for combination of the two values is one of:

the resultant feature is a predefined feature; and

the resultant feature is a combination of features of each of the plurality of values.

15. A computer system for managing characteristics variations within solution packages, comprising:

a memory to store program code; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, the processor configured to execute the program code to:

display one or more identifiers corresponding to one or more solution packages;

receive a user selection of a solution package from the one or more solution packages;

based upon the selection of the solution package, render a list including at least one of one or more industries and one or more countries supported by the selected solution package;

receive a user selection of at least one of one or more countries and one or more industries from the rendered list;

based upon the selection of the at least one of the one or more countries and the one or more industries, render a bill-of-material (BOM) including one or more modeling elements associated with the solution package;

receive a user selection of a modeling element from the one or more modeling elements, wherein the modeling element comprises one or more characteristics; and

based upon the user selection, provide one or more configuration blocks to configure the selected solution package by setting the corresponding one or more characteristics of the modeling element.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the identifier comprises at least one of textual labels and symbols and the modeling element comprises a business scenario, a business process associated with the business scenario, or a process step associated with the business process, and wherein the characteristic comprises a country, an industry, or a product associated with the modeling element.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the configuration block comprises:

a selectable core to specify one or more predefined values of the characteristic; and

a characteristic vector to specify one or more user specified values of the characteristic, wherein the characteristic vector includes at least two fields and wherein one of the two fields is configured to receive one or more values of the characteristic and another of the two fields is configured to receive a selection criteria for respective values of the characteristic.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the selection criteria comprises one of:

an option for including the value of the characteristic; and

an option for excluding the value of the characteristic.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein when the core is selected the modeling element is applicable for the predefined values of the characteristic except for the values excluded by the selection criteria and wherein when the core is unselected, the modeling element is applicable for one of:

the one or more values of the characteristic included by the selection criteria; and

one or more predefined values of the characteristic.

20. The system of claim 17 , wherein the modeling element comprises a plurality of values corresponding to a plurality of characteristics and wherein when a feature of the modeling element is different for at least two of the plurality of values, a resultant feature of the modeling element applicable for combination of the two values is determined by one of:

the resultant feature is a combination of features of each of the plurality of values; and

the resultant feature is a predefined feature.