The present invention provides a system and method for translating an asset for distribution to a multi-tiered network node. An asset may represent network and/or application components (e.g., data, objects, applications, program modules, etc.) that may be distributed among the various resources of the network. In an embodiment, an asset has a logic/data section and an extended environment section. The logic/data section defines a function of the digital asset along with the asset's type, while the extended environment section supports the function of the logic/data section within at least one source environment. The asset type is determined and a process asset adapter, associated with the asset type and a target environment, is selected. The asset is then translated into a processed asset having a processed extended environment section supporting the function of the logic/data section in the target environment.