New technology and new IT trends are changing the way enterprises are run. Workload automation software may have once been something that just a few companies used to get ahead, but these days automating your enterprise is a necessity.
Here are six reasons why your company needs an Enterprise Job Scheduler in 2016.
Everything needs to be faster. No, faster than that.
These days, we’ve all gotten used to instant gratification. Major retailers offer same-day delivery, it takes a fraction of a second to send a message around the world, and we can watch our favorite movie anytime, anywhere. If customers have to wait even a few hours to get service, they’re unhappy. Whether your company is processing credit card transactions or shipping products from a warehouse, you no longer have the luxury of letting work stall overnight, on weekends, or because you just can’t get around to it.
A good workload automation tool eliminates delays from your processes by providing event-driven job scheduling options. For example, receiving an invoice could automatically trigger a workflow within your ERP software, ensuring that your business processes keep running even if no one is monitoring them.
Jobs managed by an enterprise scheduler run 24/7, on a customized schedule if necessary. Some jobs might need to be based on the fiscal calendar or avoid running on certain days of the month. Workload automation can handle those exceptions efficiently. Furthermore, job monitors watch the status of your critical jobs so you don’t have to—if anything goes wrong, you’ll receive a notification immediately.
Your competition has workload automation
Managing business processes with an enterprise scheduling tool streamlines operations and saves time and money. That means that if your competition has workload automation software and you don’t, they have a serious resource advantage over you.
In 2016, the chances are your competition will be automating. According to Gartner, by 2016 75% of large enterprises will have more than four automation technologies within their IT management portfolio. (Of course, we recommend consolidating under one central solution). Of these automation technologies, enterprise job scheduling and workload automation solutions continue to represent the bulk of the IT automation market. If you’re the last one on the block not using an enterprise job scheduler in 2016, you will lose your competitive edge.
IT environments are increasingly complex
Technological innovation is constantly introducing new solutions to enterprise datacenters. Mobile devices, cloud computing, and big data all add to the complexity of IT operations, not to mention that legacy systems are still in play in most businesses even as new systems are adopted. It’s typical for a single enterprise to be running Windows, Linux, and UNIX, as well as both on-premise and cloud-based solutions. As time goes by and additional solutions are implemented, the complexity only grows.
An enterprise job scheduler gets all your systems and applications talking to each other. This is critical, because in a successful business, all processes are interconnected. The data you are collecting on premise needs to be sent to Hadoop in the cloud, or a file that arrives on your Linux server needs to trigger a workflow in a Windows application. Enterprise scheduling manages workflows across all systems from a single, centralized monitor.
IT trends and business conditions change all the time. You need a tool that can not only manage the hybrid environment you have now, but adapt to any new solutions you implement in 2016 and beyond.
Automation isn’t just for IT anymore
In the early days of batch job scheduling, automation was something that only IT professionals dealt with. But as technology advances and new software is implemented, it becomes increasingly important for employees across all departments to be able to manage complex, automated workflows. For example, a sales team could want to automate extracting data from a CRM like Salesforce, compiling it into an encrypted report, and sharing the report by email or FTP. Moreover, they may want to change the details of this process quickly and frequently, without the assistance of expensive IT specialists.
The most efficient solution is to implement an automation tool that integrates backend, enterprise-level IT processes with frontend desktop tasks using a simple interface that is intuitive for system administrators and accountants alike. For example, Skybot Scheduler integrates with AutoMate, a business process automation tool, to create the Enterprise Process Automation Suite, a comprehensive automation solution for the entire enterprise.
Data is more important than ever
In 2012 the Economist Intelligence Unit surveyed over 500 executives across a range of industries. The study found a correlation between companies that perform well financially and those that have adopted a data-driven strategy. These data-driven enterprises emphasized both data collection and data sharing.
But compiling and sharing all that data isn’t practical if you’re doing it manually, especially in a mixed IT environment. Your data may be located across different systems, on premise and in the cloud.
An advanced workload automation tool will interface with your big data and ETL tools, like Hadoop and Informatica, and incorporate those applications’ workflows into your comprehensive enterprise schedule. If you have a unified process automation tool, like the Enterprise Process Automation Suite, that handles both frontend and backend processes, you can use that software to manage your report generation tasks such as extracting data, writing Excel documents, compressing or encrypting files, and report distribution.
The bottom line
According to EMA survey research, the number one area where automation delivers the most business value is in reducing operational costs. If you want to increase your profit margin, implementing workload automation software is an easy way to reap big rewards.
There are many reasons why workload automation helps your bottom line, like contributing to overall efficiency, improving your customer service, and freeing you up to spend more time on high-level strategy. One area in particular where an enterprise job scheduler is essential is in eliminating unplanned downtime. A 2011 Poneman Institute report calculated that the average cost of downtime across all industries is approximately $5,600 per minute. An enterprise job scheduler with a high availability (HA) system protects you from costly downtime with real-time database replication to a standby server.
For more information, please contact Chris Anderson of SPI Group Pty Ltd on 011 234 1560 or fax 011 234 1387; email chris@spi.co.za or visit our website www.spi.co.za.
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