A method, system, and computer program product are described for managing the provisioning of resources in a data processing system. There are different types of resources. Each resource is one of these types. Multiple provisioning states are defined for each type of resource. Relationships are defined among the provisioning states. The relationships describe valid transitions from one state to another. Workflows of one or more tasks are defined, varying to the resource implementation specifications, that are associated with each one of the valid transitions between states. When a resource is to transition from a current state, the relationships among states are used to determine a valid next state. The workflow specific to the resource specification and associated with this transition from the current state to the determined next state is then executed in order to transition to the next state.