A software system for enabling remote data access to and task execution on a data processing system through a proxy server has an instance of the software residing on the data processing system for receiving and analyzing requests and performing according to request directive, and an instance of the software residing on the proxy server for identifying and authenticating a user and for redirecting requests to the data processing system. The system is characterized in that a user connects to a network accessible to the data processing system and initiates a request for services, wherein the request is after authentication of the user, redirected from the proxy server to the data processing system for task execution and possible return of results according to the contents of the request.