1. At a computer system, the computer system including a processor, a method of preparing an application for deployment across a plurality of server computers, the method comprising: accessing a package definition for the application, the package definition defining elements to be used in the application, the defined elements included in one or more application packages, the one or more application packages defined in an object model; creating an application package element manifest for the application from the contents of the one or more application packages, the application package element manifest containing one or more of: a file and data relevant to the defined elements; the processor transforming the application package element manifest into one or more manifest files compatible with a packaging schema for product deployment software, the application package element manifest transformed into one or more manifest files by mapping between types and properties in the object model and elements and attributes in the packaging schema, the product deployment software configured to deploy applications across the plurality of server computers; and bundling the one or more manifest files into a deployment format expected by the product deployment software.