Before we dive deep into the concept of Control-M, let's relax a little bit by beginning with a brief lesson on the history of batch processing. In the first chapter, we will be looking at the basic fundamentals of batch processing and the ever growing technical and business requirements, as well as related challenges people are facing in today's IT environment. Based on that, we will look at how can we overcome these difficulties by using centralized enterprise scheduling platforms, and discuss the features and benefits of those platforms. Finally, we will get into the most exciting part of the chapter, talking about a brand new concept, that is, workload automation.
By keeping these key knowledge points in mind, you will find it easy to understand the purpose of each Control-M feature later on in the book. More importantly, adopting the correct batch concepts will help you build an efficient centralized batch environment and be able to use Control-M in the most effective way in the future.
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
Explain the meaning of batch processing and understand why batch processing is needed
Describe the two major types of batch processing
List the challenges of batch processing in today's IT environment
Outline the benefits of having a centralized batch scheduling tool
Name different job roles and responsibilities in a centralized batch environment
Understand why workload automation is the next step for batch scheduling