What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is not really well defined concept, at least from my understanding. Some say Cloud computing is part of web2.0, some say Cloud computing has been around for many years but under different names.

So what is Cloud Computing? If I can put it in the most simple from it would be “ the ability to do everything on-line, not only accessing the web, but to be able to run applications from the web and even access hardware.”

One short video I watched on Google described Cloud Computing as the ability to host your applications in way that you can scale up and down your storage and bandwidth needs depending on the traffic in your website.

Another video described it as the ability to do all your productive works using a thin client, a laptop with only basic hardware configuration and only the very basic applications, everything else will be available online.

Some professionals believe that Cloud Computing will put and end to the software applications as we know it now. There will be no more installation CDs, every piece of software will be available on line, you use it to do your work as if its installed in your local computer.

Batch Processing and ActiveBatch 7.0 Part 5

ActiveBatch® includes an extensible Built-in Library that allows developers and users a “scriptless solution” for automating workflows to better address the requirements for Process Automation. With ActiveBatch you can create and execute an array of business processes such as Database or ETL, Crystal Reports, and other processes into more tightly integrated workflows as a job step(s) across a diverse group of applications and scripts.

Among the Automated Business Processes included in the Jobs Library are:

* SQL Server Jobs Including DTS Packages and SSIS
* Crystal Reports® Integration
* SQL Blocks for Oracle or SQL Server
* FTP/SFTP Operations  z/OS
* Email Jobs
* Managing Services
* Supporting File Operations like Copy or Zip
* ActiveBatch operations and more

To create an integrated workflow using job steps, select the type, and complete a few fields, directly or using variables, such as the server name, job name, or database name, and other required information. Database and other job types can be integrated into an automated Business Process that can be triggered through ActiveBatch by events, simply date and time or through using the conditional status of a predecessor job.

Simply add a request for ActiveBatch to report progress and your operations group can view the steps as the sequence progresses.

Steps can be grouped using flow controls and be nested as well for improved Business Automation.

Our unique Library allows for reduced errors by eliminating complex scripting, improving service levels and allowing for a reduced cost of operations through centralized and integrated control of diverse jobs and applications.

Check our Job Library details for more specific information or tell us about your requirements for scriptless automation to improve your Business Processes.

Batch Processing and ActiveBatch 7.0 Part 4

Event Automation – Reducing “Slack” Time In Operations:
ActiveBatch® is an event driven job scheduling solution that allows jobs and job plans to be triggered by events such as file creation, modification, deletion, system startup, runaway processes or thousands of events that can be managed by our full support of the Microsoft Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) and or SNMP trapping.

ActiveBatch supports File Triggering on both Microsoft Windows as well as Non Windows systems including Linux, UNIX or OpenVMS upon the creation, modification or deletion of a specific file.

Multiple event triggers can be set up on jobs and job plans so that jobs are triggered based on events, a specific date and time, or even from previous jobs that have failed or succeeded in operation. ActiveBatch allows the job designer to create powerful job flows to take advantage of event based capabilities for the intended business process.

No longer will jobs “wait” for startup as ActiveBatch reduces the amount of “Idle” time previously built into other job scheduling systems by triggering workflows on Events such as File creation, modification or deletion on Windows, UNIX, Linux or OpenVMS systems, or on the completion status of a predecessor job or workflow. ActiveBatch can check for exit status and determine the appropriate job to trigger based on conditional flows. ActiveBatch allows for event based jobs to have expected run times so that they can be monitored or even allow for alerts to be sent to people on whom the job is waiting to release a file or initiate an action. The bottom line is that ActiveBatch helps IT to leverage the business unit with improved service levels.

ActiveBatch allows for events based jobs to gain visibility for operations by their inclusion in Daily Activity or Run Books allowing for “Expected Event Times” to be published so that these jobs and workflows can be identified when problems arise.

ActiveBatch Alerts can triggered when an expected event does not occur within a specified time window. With ActiveBatch you can, as an example, alert a vendor or supplier, that the system is waiting for their action or a file.

ActiveBatch job scheduling software can also interrogate data by using Active Variables and allow specific data to be used as an alternative approach to an event based job trigger. Within ActiveBatch, Active Variables can be used between jobs so that data is passed throughout the business process. Some examples of Active Variables are:
* Date Expression
* File Contents
* SQL Record Set
* Web Service Request Result
* WMI Query
* XML Query
* File System Information

In addition to ActiveBatch’s event based capabilities, ActiveBatch incorporates powerful date and time scheduling allowing either calendar scheduling or fiscal year scheduling. Jobs can be associated with one of more schedules that provide highly granular scheduling details for the greatest flexibility. Business calendars can be associated with jobs or job plans so days may be excluded and identified for previous or next day scheduling, or allow them to run based on the next scheduled date.

Batch Processing and ActiveBatch 7.0 Part 3

ActiveBatch Job Scheduling Scalability, Manageability and Integration:

ActiveBatch’s uniquely scaleable job scheduling architecture provides users greater manageability as well as flexibility and control for addressing job scheduling requirements across the Enterprise. ActiveBatch supports the reliable execution of job and plans on:

* Linux (Red Hat & SUSE)
* IBM AIX
* Sun Solaris SPARC, x86, x64
* Windows 2008/Vista/2003/XP/2000
32 and 64-Bit Window Systems * HP-UX
* HP Tru64 Unix
* OpenVMS

ActiveBatch is a proven job scheduling solution, designed to be customer installable and incorporates many Microsoft, Oracle, HP and other technologies to help organization standardize to provide the best balance for a reduced learning curve and cost of operations.

ActiveBatch’s high performance capabilities allow separate departments within organizations to share “private” job scheduling capabilities as a corporate utility inside or outside of the data center to avoid in advertent changes to objects. Directory Services allows for access via a Published name.

ActiveBatch is script language independent to allow jobs, scripts, exe’s, etc. to be scheduled, monitored and ran based upon date and time, events or simply on-demand on heterogeneous platforms across domains and around the world.

Batch Processing and ActiveBatch 7.0 Part 2

ActiveBatch® Enterprise Job Scheduling & Event Automation – Reducing the Cost of Operations:

ActiveBatch, Enterprise Job Scheduling integrates business applications, standalone tasks, processes and scripts across diverse distributed computing environments creating a centralized view of operations at the organizational or enterprise level.

ActiveBatch is a cross platform solution that easily structures tasks and/or applications into organized and integrated workflows. The result is reliable, unattended operations that trigger workflows by Date and Time, Events (e.g. File Triggers & WMI Events) or completion status to ensure that IT and Operations Management achieves results as required by the business.

ActiveBatch Job Scheduling and Event Automation organizes and manages these tasks and workflows into a unified/integrated workflow on various platforms (e.g. Microsoft Windows, Linux, UNIX and OpenVMS) and across custom and business aware applications like SQL Server while providing various job types such as Secure FTP, E-mail, File Operations, Script or Process.

ActiveBatch’s unique architecture incorporates proven Microsoft Windows, Oracle, HP and other technologies already implemented in your environment to simplify and take advantage of leveraged learning by incorporating the following:

* Microsoft Windows Security Model Including Kerberos
* Improve interoperability with jobs and applications for Windows, Linux, UNIX along with other platforms. Our cross platform software allows a job to pass information and data between applications and systems.
* Active Directory or ADAM
* SQL Server 200x or Oracle
* WMI & SNMP Trapping
* HP Operations Center, MOM or SCOM for Enterprise Monitoring
* Script Language Independence

ActiveBatch has achieved proven results in over 1200 sites around the world by:
1. Reducing Errors from Manual Operations
2. Eliminating “Slack Time” during processing using completion status of predecessor jobs
3. Integrating Workflows, using Graphical controls or Property sheets
4. Lowering the Overall Operation Costs
5. Improving Service Levels

Batch processing and ActiveBatch 7.0

If you are a business manager or IT consultant, you know that there is not enough time, time is your biggest killer, so many tasks that need to be executed in the shortest possible time.

The concept of batch processing (in its simplest form) is to have a software program (script) run a task for you. For example: each morning you launch your web browser and navigate your way to your chosen financial broker website to get the latest activities on a stock, with batch processing, you can automate this daily activity so at certain hour of the day, you will have the stock(s) activities displayed on your screen or even e-mailed to you.

Batch processing is to automate repetitive tasks by writing scripts (codes.) In my early programming days, I had to write scripts to run tests on website, they idea was to have the script send thothands of page requests to a particular website, to simulate the actual users. Writing the script was time consuming and error prone.

Since that time, lots of improvement is being made in the automation of batch processing. Several software vendors are offering solutions to ease task creation under batch processing. One the vendors’ solutions that I had the privilege to review was Activebatch 7.0 by Advanced Systems Concepts. Using tele-conferning and web conferencing, Jim Manias from Advanced Systems Concepts, gave me a great overview of the new ActiveBatch 7.0 release.

On of the main features of ActiveBatch 7.0 (which I try to discuss more in the coming posts), is significantly reducing the need to write scripts, most of scripts writing is already done for you, you only have to chose the task and click.

In the next several posts, I will try to get into more details of ActiveBatch 7.0 features.

The danger of e-mails

How long do you think before sending an angry e-mail? Composing and sending an e-mail can take only few minutes but sending the wrong e-mail can have great consequences.

In the old days of pens and papers, sending an angry letter or memo would take time, you have to sit down and compose the letter, if you make mistakes you may need to start all over, you need to make sure you didn’t misspell any word and you have to take the time to deliver the letter or mail it.

Composing a regular letter takes considerably more time than sending an e-mail, the time you spend composing a letter and sending it is the time you are given to re-think about that angry letter or memo you are about to hand or mail.

How many times you have regretted sending an e-mail after clicking the “send” button? I know there are some technical tricks you can use to retrieve an unopened e-mail, but in normal circumstances once an e-mail is sent, there is a little chance of stopping the receiver from reading it.

We all get our moments at our work or in your relationships, sending e-mails should be the last thing you use when you are not sure about your judgment.

Cheaper technology will mean more waste

In the last few years, the used PC and other peripherals market really flourished in the US and many other parts of the world. The idea was to take buy used PCs and other peripherals (mainly from corporate America) and sell it to the developing countries market. This business model provided cheaper computers to many low-income individuals as well as saved the environment by extending the life cycle of these used equipment.

This industry is now threatened by the rapidly dropping princes of new PCs and other peripherals. Its great to see the prices dropping but what will happened to the millions of used PCs and other peripherals that will fill the land? I remember advising few of my clients who wanted to buy used PCs for their businesses to buy new ones since the price difference is not that great between used and new.

I think the environment has many years to suffer.

Do you need more certifications?

During economic slow down and uncertain job markets, many people try to go back to school to get more education or more certificates, its natural human reaction, people think if they are more qualified, they will have a better chance on securing jobs.

But during economic slow downs most companies are trying to cut costs, the problem is not that they have not-qualified labor force, the problem is that they cannot afford a big payroll.

Naturally, if you are better educated or hold more certificates, you will demand higher salary and that is exactly what the hiring managers don’t want to do during slow times. So the best strategy to follow during slow times is to lower your expectations, think of ways to be more creative and be flexible with your company.

Windows CardSpace

Windows CardSpace is a feature included with Microsoft Vista. You can find Windows Cardspace under control panel. The Advantage of Cardspace is that it gives you a place where you can store all your personal or business information on the computer and exchange this information quickly with sites you log on to frequently. Basically, it will send the data to the site you log in without you having to type the information again or it will send the data to the new site you want to register with without you having to type the data again since its already stored with Cardspace.

Not sure how many people will feel safe about this feature, but as I said before, there is so much about us is already available on the Internet, sooner or later this type of services will be so common that everyone will be using them.