A system for providing application access to external data uses a data component that translates requests for data into .NET objects. The .NET objects are used to retrieve information from a variety of different data sources that contain data stored in a number of different formats. The data component retrieves the data from the data sources and creates a response .NET object that can be transmitted to a requestor. The data component uses a DST that defines the manner in which data is to be retrieved. To retrieve data from a new data source, it is only necessary to create a new DST. In such a manner, a requestor can retrieve data without the need to translate data into a particular format. Therefore, the .NET object may be available via a web service, thereby allowing access via a variety of different computing tools such as, for example, a personal computer, a telephone, and a PDA.