A method and apparatus are provided for managing activation of one or more application instances in a client machine in communication with a server across a network. The client machine is configured with a manager local to the client machine to manage the application instances. Data associated with the application instance(s) is maintained on the client machine. Prior to sending a communication to the server for an application, the manager ensures that an application instance is not present and activated local to the client machine for the same application. Accordingly, management of the application instances is maintained local to the client machine.