A system and method for application scoping that can be added to the application model for an application server, making it less global-centric and more application-centric. The JNDI tree is configured to allow for an application-private JNDI section. This private JNDI section then acts as a private data repository for the application. Resources that are needed by the application can be stored in the application-specific JNDI tree, and thus “scoped” to that particular application. As applications are added to the system, they can be specified in this way. The overall result is fewer changes at the system-wide or global level. The application scoping features provided by the invention include: Use of application scoped JNDI tree; Application Scoped JDBC DataSources; and Application Scoped Security. Application scoped resources provide two primary advantages—Security, in that resources owned by one application can't be used by another; and Simplified packaging and configuration.