1. A computer-implemented method for determining pattern distributions across a pool of virtual machine (VM) images in a networked computing environment, comprising: determining a total pool size for a pool of VM instances; analyzing available software packages, possible combinations of the available software packages, and historical data stored in at least one computer storage medium, the historical data comprising percentages of previously provisioned VM instances that were provisioned based on each of the available software packages; determining, based upon the historical data, a distribution of a set of VM instance patterns across the pool of VM instances; and provisioning the pool of VM instances in the networked computing environment according to the distribution.