A system, method and apparatus provide collaborative access to an application by identifying an application from a set of independently operable applications to be accessible from a collaborative workspace. The system creates an application container within the application for storage of application data on behalf of users accessing the application from the collaborative workspace and creates a workspace container within the collaborative workspace that includes workspace metadata that identifies the application and that provides collaborative users access to the application from the collaborative workspace. The system provides collaborative access to the application on behalf of users in the collaborative workspace. The collaborative access allows users to access the workspace metadata to identify and gain access to the application and allows the users access to the application data maintained by the application within the application container.