1. A method comprising: retrieving, for a cloud computing service, a request graph specifying request nodes identifying respective requested cloud computing service operations, and at least one request edge specifying a requested path requirements connecting the request nodes; identifying a placement pivot from among feasible cloud elements identified in a physical graph representing a data network having a physical topology, each feasible cloud element an available solution for one of the request nodes, the placement pivot having a maximum depth in the physical topology relative to the feasible cloud elements; ordering the feasible cloud elements, within candidate sets of feasible cloud elements identified as available solutions for the at least one request edge, according to increasing distance from the placement pivot to form an ordered list of candidate sets of feasible cloud elements; and determining an optimum candidate set, from at least a portion of the ordered list, based on the optimum candidate set having an optimized fitness function in the physical graph from among the other candidate sets in the ordered list.