1. A machine-implemented method, comprising: receiving, at a network element management system (“EMS”) server from an EMS client, a communication to administer a particular service on a network element, wherein the communication contains service data that describes the particular service to be administered on the network element, and wherein the particular service is one of a set of services; creating and storing an instance of a generic record that comprises the service data; determining a selected service module from a set of service modules to process the instance based on which service is associated with the service data stored in the instance, and wherein the selected service module is configured to process instances of the generic record storing service data associated with the particular service; and processing the instance at the selected service module to produce result data that describes the result of processing the service data at the network element.