1. A computer-based method for selection of a runtime stack for deployment of a Web Service, comprising: generating policy assertions for a Web Service to be deployed; providing a scoring mechanism for each available runtime stack in which the ability of a stack to support each of a plurality of policy assertions is scored; applying the scoring mechanism for each available runtime stack to the policy assertions ( 262 A, 262 B) for the Web Service to be deployed; and selecting a stack based on the results of applying the scoring mechanism.