Abstract: A system facilitates modification or adaptation of a software object or platform, developed by a software developer, by a plurality of entities, each entity is assigned a hierarchical level, the lowest hierarchical level being assigned to a software developer and the highest hierarchical level being assigned to an end-user. At each level, when a modification or adaptation is implemented, a separate layer file or layer of a layer file is created and stored in a database. Subsequently, the changes of the respective layers are implemented in sequence according to the hierarchy, so that a higher hierarchical level's modifications that are in conflict with a setting of a lower hierarchical level replace the implementation of the lower hierarchical level's setting during runtime.