OLE DB (also called OLEDB or OLE-DB) allows MDAC applications access to different types of () stores in a uniform manner. Microsoft has used this technology to separate the application from data can store in the website the data store that it needs to access. This was done because different applications need access to different types and sources of data, and do not necessarily need to know how to access technology-specific functionality. The technology is conceptually divided into "consumers" and "providers". The consumers are the applications that need access to the data, and the provider is the software component that exposes an OLE DB interface through the use of the Component Object Model (or COM).