Although typically thought of as an artifact of legacy computing, batch processes remain vital to today’s real-time enterprises. Behind the real time systems that power the real time enterprise, such as customer order fulfillment, account management, supply chain scheduling and optimization, or financial trading systems, are regularly-updated back office business systems. Over the years, batch technology has evolved from script-based automation to rules or policy-driven workload automation.

By leveraging Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), enterprises can evolve batch workloads from standalone data center operations to components that are intrinsic to composite, Service- Oriented Business Applications. CA’s move to extend their AutoSys workload automation product by embracing SOA best practices and Web Services is an important step in transforming workload automation from its roots as an IT operations scheduling aid to a dynamic, business-driven process.