A method, system and computer program product is disclosed for supporting role-based access control in a collaborative environment, wherein pluralities of users work together in a collaborative process using a software system. The method comprises componentizing the software system into a multitude of software components, and limiting access to specific software components to certain users based on roles assigned to the users as defined by a run-time state of the collaborative process. The set of components that a user can access is dynamic, that set can change based on the “context” or the step where the user is in a collaborative workflow/process. Thus, in comparison with traditional access control mechanisms, an embodiment of the invention combines three different elements: a) the set of components that comprise the application is partitioned in such a way as to make componentized role-based access control feasible, b) a method for specifying inter-component dependencies to enable role-based groups, and c) enabling the modification of the access privileges based on contextual information from a collaborative process.