Patent ID: 8510648

Claim:
A system for managing a document conversion environment, comprising: at least one server computer communicatively connected to one or more devices on a network and running an isolation service, wherein when a document having a native document type is ready for conversion, the isolation service determines whether a native application associated with the native document type is executing and when the native application is executing, the isolation service causes the executing native application to load and convert the document from the native document type to a common document format, when the native application is not executing, the isolation service executes the native application and causes the executing native application to load and convert the document to the common document format, wherein by first determining whether the native application associated with the native document type is already executing prior to causing the native application to load and convert the document to the common document format, the isolation service ensures only a single instance of the native application executes for the conversion, wherein the isolation service monitors and manages the conversion of the document by the single instance of the native application according to at least one specified document conversion operation parameter, condition, or setting.