A request broker receives a request from a client, including a description of a method and parameters to be used in executing the method. The parameters have one of multiple acceptable native formats. The request broker determines the native format and communicates the parameters in the native format to a selected one of multiple translators for translation to an internal format, where each translator is associated with a different native format. The request broker communicates the parameters in the internal format to an application server system to enable execution of the method, receives a return value from the application server system reflecting execution of the method, communicates the return value in the internal format to the selected translator for translation to the native format, generates a reply including the description of the method and the return value in the native format, and communicates the reply to the client.