A method and system for managing requests from a customer system domain, the requests for access to an application executed by a web service in a cloud computing environment. In one embodiment, an access management system includes an authentication layer and an authorization layer. The authentication layer includes a proxy web service to receive a request for access to an application according to a membership-based authentication protocol and generate an object to be passed to an interface of the web-based execution platform. A second object is generated including user identity and membership information. The second object is configured with a protocol that enables processing by the web-based execution platform. The web-based execution platform receives the second object, extracts the authentication information in the second protocol, and translates the authentication information of the second object back into the first object as in the original request. Using the first object, the application determines a validity of the request.