Server client negotiation of version selection in a messaging system

Selecting a version of software for a message queuing software product to perform a task. Rules using characteristics of different versions and information describing the task to be performed is select message queuing software product starting with the most preferred version, based on whether the software component is available for use. If a determination is made that none of the rules apply to the task to be performed, the task is performed with the most preferred version of the message queuing software component. This may be carried out by a decision making layer in server-client negotiations for software update releases that may or may not have capability to deal with a message. This process optimizes the setup of message processing, for example using the web services policy framework to advertise policies on security, quality, timestamps and the like, and a consumer service to access appropriate services for example those that are encrypted or signed in a certain way.