To understand what a cross-platform tool can do for workload scheduling, think in terms of the challenges an air traffic controller faces. Imagine a controller who is trying to direct flights to different terminals but can only see the schedule of one airline and one terminal—Terminal A. So, if conditions change and it’s no longer practical for the controller to direct flights to Terminal A, the logical approach would be to have the planes land at another terminal. But without visibility into the traffic at Terminals B, C, and D, the options are limited. The planes might have to keep flying in circles until it’s safe to land. Planes that need to take off from Terminal A may be delayed on the ground. This lack of visibility impacts the flight schedule, costs, and, perhaps most important, customer satisfaction.
When you apply that same analogy to managing workloads in your business, it’s easy to see why having an enterprisewide view of the different jobs that are scheduled and how they work together is essential for meeting business needs. Orders require multiple transactions. Many activities related to these transactions happen on different platforms. Therefore, having a cross-platform capability for scheduling enables you to manage workloads across the enterprise, instead of within silos, so work is being scheduled most effectively.
If you lack an enterprisewide view and use a hodgepodge of different schedulers to meet your scheduling requirements, it’s difficult to understand the overall business impact or to identify the root cause of the problems. Your administrative costs are also high because the different solutions require different skillsets to manage them.
Improve Efficiency and Reduce Costs
A single, comprehensive solution that schedules work across the entire enterprise can provide the visibility you need into workloads and improve control. With an enterprise workload automation scheduler, you can increase productivity and reduce costs while delivering higher-quality service. You can also achieve timesaving and error-eliminating automation, faster problem resolution, and a reduced batch window.
You will no longer have to maintain multiple workload automation tools from multiple vendors, which will reduce costs. In addition, you can achieve a comprehensive and accurate view of scheduled work and business processes across the enterprise. This makes it easier to spot a problem, identify its root cause, and understand business priorities when addressing issues. It also reduces mean-time-to-repair while improving service.
Administrative costs decrease because you no longer need to maintain different administrator skillsets for the various tools. Training costs can be reduced, and administrators can become more efficient and productive. This makes it easier to scale and do additional scheduling jobs with existing resources.
Increase Customer Satisfaction
When business users need a new service or want to modify an existing one, they want the service to meet their objectives. The service should be available to anyone who needs it, whenever and wherever it’s needed. Giving users what they care about requires the IT organization integrate multiple application components running on disparate platforms that are scattered across the enterprise. The IT organization must also ensure the services meet business requirements as defined in Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
A well-architected enterprise workload automation solution facilitates integration by performing the necessary connection, coordination, and information transfer among the application components. The service should provide cross-platform coverage that encompasses all the platforms—distributed and mainframe, physical and virtual—involved in delivering business services.
Enterprise workload automation solutions can enable users to access workload automation services and inquire about status on their own using a Web browser or mobile app. Business users get the information they need when they need it, and service desk personnel no longer have to spend time handling routine calls.
Field service technicians can access and address problems without returning to their desks. Your employees get more work done in less time, and customers receive better service. This builds customer loyalty and drives repeat business.
By implementing an enterprise workload automation solution, the IT organization can ensure that the services for supporting the day-to-day business operations continue to flow efficiently. The result is an effective organization that responds proficiently, timely, and cost-effectively to changing business conditions.
