1. A method of application configuration comparison and re-use comprising the steps of: scanning an application system to extract application configuration, customizations and structure using a surveyor; providing extracted application configuration, customizations and structure to a workbench; comparing in the workbench the extracted application configuration, customizations and structure with a scanned reference system; computing differences between the extracted application configuration, customizations and structure and the scanned reference system; prompting a user to select configuration elements for re-use; and uploading and installing selected configurations of an instance of the application system.