A solution is provided for accessing a shared resource in a data processing system (such as a server of a DAM application) by a plurality of exploiter entities (such as clients). A corresponding method starts with the step of monitoring an activity of each enabled entity being granted an access to the shared resource. The access granted to each enabled entity is released in response to the reaching of a first threshold (such as a time-out period) by an inactivity indicator, which is indicative of the non-activity of the enabled entity (such as an idle time). The method continues by detecting a critical condition of the shared resource (such as after reaching a maximum number of concurrent accesses). The access granted to an eligible enabled entity (or more) is released in response to the critical condition; the inactivity indicator of each eligible enabled entity reaches a second threshold preceding the first threshold (such as a grant period lower than the time-out period).