| ASAP 2010: It's all about making the Quantum LEAP to 8.5 & Beyond |
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Learn the new features of TWS 8.5.
Explore its enhanced functionality.
Achieve and master critical knowledge and skills.
Perform the successful navigation of 8.5 migration, scheduling & operations.
Attending ASAP 2010 TWS User Education has never been more critical to your organization's scheduling performance. This year it is all about making the Quantum LEAP to 8.5 / 8.5.1. Just take a look at the courses available to TWS users at ASAP 2010.
Learn. Explore. Achieve. Perform.
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| ASAP 2010 TWS User Education Business Justification |
Recognizing that participation in ASAP 2010 must be approved by your management, the ASAP board of directors has drafted ASAP 2010 TWS User Education Training Proposal.doc - a boilerplate which outlines the benefits and costs of this worthwhile investment.
You are encouraged to modify and make this proposal your own and present it to your management.
ASAP's TWS User Education Training - an intense, three-day training program designed by users, for users - has been the premier education event for Tivoli Workload Scheduler and its predecessor for over twenty-two years.
Simply put, ASAP 2010 is the best Tivoli Workload Scheduler User Education Training program hands down. I hope to see you there.
 and receive a $75 discount on Member Registration. Please spread the good word about ASAP 2010: TWS User Education Training to your colleagues and users of Tivoli Workload Scheduler.
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| User Forum Notes from www.twsuser.org |
 Did you know?
The ASAP - TWS User Education web site has a forum page. Members log on to the member only section of the site and post and/or review questions which are sent directly to the board and IBM's L2 support for follow up. Check it out!
Here's a recent posting:
Deborah Johnson - Posted Wednesday, January 20, 2010 05:10 PM EST
I am hearing from the system install team that along with r11.1 of z/os there will be twsz 8.6. I can't seem to locate any info on 8.6 I only see 8.5.1. Are they mistaken?
Also I am sitting on tws 8.3 right now. Seems to be a pretty big jump from 8.3 to 8.5.1 or 8.6. Do you forsee any problems going from 8.3 to 8.6 or 8.5.1?
Cy Atkinson - Posted Friday, January 22, 2010 01:45 PM EST
z/OS 1.11 is out now. z/OS 1.12 is in advanced beta, and z/OS 1.13 is scheduled to start beta testing in a couple of months. At that rate, z/OS 11.1 would be about 60 years out. The current release of TWSz is 8.5.1 which went GA at the beginning of January. The development road map calls for another release in a bit over a year, but there is no information yet available as to what it might contain. I'd say your question is a good one to ask the folks from Rome at the Conference in Arizona in April.
Migration from TWSz 8.3 to 8.5.0 to 8.5.1 is the same migration that has been in effect between any releases of TWSz (or OPC) for many years. Basically, the sequence is:
1. SMP/E install the new release.
2. Upgrade the JES and SMF exits
3. Run the EQQJOBS CLIST to setup the new release
4. Do what ever further customization and setup is needed to get the new release running.
5. When you're ready to cut over, run the TWSz database migration job EQQICNVS to make updated copies of all the TWSz VSAM datasets that are compatible with your new release.
Details are in the TWSz INSTALLATION manual for the release you are going to.
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IBM TWS Executive Briefing |
 As we move through the challenging financial times of 2009, we hear a lot of the same talk we are used to hearing within IT: "we need to be more efficient...," "we need to help drive more revenue..," "we need to standardize our multiple teams and acquisitions...." Everything is either about making money, saving money, or proving compliance with some necessary standard.
Nothing lasts forever and these challenging economics will also change in time. In 2010 your company will continue to focus on IT cost efficiency but will need to be ready to ride the opportunity of the economic recovery. The key is to strongly leverage your automation strategy to survive the squeeze and to help your business find ways to thrive and grow!
How well do your executives know what your workload automation efforts are doing to drive your business successes? How well do your executives know the emerging trends in workload automation technology? Are you trying to gain your executive's support to attend the ASAP user education event in 2010?
If you would like your executives to know more, get ready to invite them to an invitation-only discussion about workload automation benefits, strategies, and customer successes that will be hosted by Kendall Lock, IBM Director of Workload Automation Development later this quater.
This briefing is designed to provide senior IT and line of business (LOB) executives with information about the value of workload automation and its role in the business. If you would like to nominate a senior IT or LOB executive to participate, please respond to this newsletter submitting the following information1 to MeetingWorks included in the ASAP Executive Briefing Nomination RSVP. Information about the date and logistics for joining the briefing will be sent in a confirmation email.
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Company name
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Current version of TWS implemented: (Ex: TWSz 8.4) |
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Submitter:
Name of person submitting the nomination |
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Submitter's Email:
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Executive Nominee:
Name of executive to be nominated to attend the briefing |
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Executive's Email1:
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1The information that you submit will be used by ASAP and IBM solely for the purpose of communication about this briefing. The information will not be shared beyond the planning team and will not be used to communicate about any other topic.
Kendall Lock, is currently the Director of the Rome Lab, responsible for products in the Tivoli Automation family as well as Support and Services across all five SWG brands. Kendall has held a wide variety of positions in his IBM career, starting as a developer and later becoming a key architect in IBM's Workgroup products. He was part of the team that succeeded in acquiring Lotus, and then went to join Lotus as a new manager, bringing group scheduling into Lotus Notes as well as connectivity to all of IBM's previous OfficeVision platforms. Kendall next joined Tivoli in its Network Management area, working on both network monitoring tools and service-provider infrastructure technology. Kendall then returned to his engineering roots as the technical strategist for Tivoli's Performance and Automation portfolio. After transitioning back into development as the Director of Monitoring for Application, Availability Business Service Management (AABSM), he then shifted into a new portfolio area for Tivoli, Director of Application Management products, where he led teams in Raleigh, Austin, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Beijing, Perth and the Ukraine. That organization grew double digits for multiple consecutive years. Kendall is a huge music fan and an occasional basketball player. Kendall is a graduate of the University of Texas.
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| IBM TWS Customer Advisory Council Update by Allison Ferguson |
 Since ASAP 2009, the IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler (TWS) Customer Advisory Council (CAC) has continued to convene on regularly to work together to set the strategic direction for the IBM Tivoli Workload Automation solutions and to discuss issues that are important to the group.
During the September and December 2009 meetngs, the council reviewed the Early Support Program (ESP) for the upcoming Tivoli Workload Scheduler Version 8.5.1 releases for both the mainframe and distributed platforms, along with the specific actions that customers can take to support the successful introduction of these releases. In addition, IBM presented information about additional product requirements that are under development at this time.
Another topic that generated significant conversation was the exploration of the plans to provide version control for objects within Tivoli Workload Scheduler. Council members shared the current implementations and their vision for improving version control.
The insights, thoughtful discussion, and unique perspective that the advisory council members bring to these ongoing exchanges is invaluable to IBM development and the success of the Tivoli workload automation solution family.
The next council meeting is planned for April 2010.
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| Have your Company's Requirements Heard |
As a member of ASAP - the official user group for distributed and mainframe TWS - representatives of member companies have the right to participate in the ASAP product enhancement requirements process for TWS. The requirements submitted and voted upon by ASAP members are submitted to IBM on an annual basis and influence the IBM development team's product enhancements. To have your company's TWS product enhancement requirements supported and influenced by ASAP members, complete TWS PRODUCT ENHANCEMENT REQUIREMENTS 2010.doc and email it to Bob Sommer at robert.i.sommer@citi.com.
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| FREE TWS Certification Testing at ASAP 2010 |
 In support of the ASAP 2010 TWS User Education event, IBM will once again provide TWS users with a FREE opportunity to certify their skills about TWS.
Outside of the ASAP 2010 TWS User Education event, IBM certification exams must be taken at an authorized certification center at a cost of US$30 per assessment exam and US$200 per certification exam. In conjunction with ASAP 2010, attendees will able to take both the assessment exam and the certification exam at no cost.
The certification process provides a reliable, valid and fair method of assessing skills and knowledge about TWS. Certification exams vary a little in duration and number of questions depending on the product version and platform, but generally include approximately 65 questions and generally have a maximum duration of 75 minutes. Smaller assessment pre-tests are also available to allow certification candidates an opportunity to test a representative subset of their knowledge as an indicator of readiness to sit for the full certification exam.
It is highly recommended that those seeking certification complete the assessment test at least two weeks prior to taking the certification exam in order to see how ready one is to take the actual test. Review and study the type of information included in the practice test. Then come to the ASAP 2010 Q & A session with Cy and Clint to clarify those areas in which you need further knowledge. Remember: The best preparation for certification is a high level of practical experience and knowledge of the TWS for z/OS documentation and the Redbook for TWSd 8.4 "Certification Guide Series: IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler V8.4".
For more information about the certification process, see www.ibm.com/certify.
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| Moving to TWSz 8.5 Cy's Corner #62 |
Global Warming, My frozen tuckas!!
We're nearly two weeks into 2010, and I'm starting to look fearfully to the North to see how close the glaciers are getting. At least we're a bit better off here in North Carolina than the folks "back home" in Wisconsin. Afternoon highs here in central North Carolina have regularly peeked above the freezing mark. But when I spoke to my Mom and Dad back in Frostbite Falls (actually, Shell Lake) last weekend, their afternoon HIGHS were running in the low (but positive) single digits. We won't discuss their overnight lows.
Pat is after me to take down the holiday decorations. Maybe this weekend I'll be able to venture out without mittens. The extended forecast is for a high on Saturday of 48, then a rainy 40 on Sunday.
Luckily, it's warm and cozy in the TWSz labs where we're busily playing with our shiny new GA version of TWSz V8R5M1. I hereby declare zCentric Agents (E2E-Lite) are the best thing since Ole Olaffson invented sliced cheese back in America's Dairyland. All the simplicity, full function, and convenience of the old TRACKER AGENTS, but with improved usability and reliability. I talked a bit about E2E-Lite in our last visit, and after having worked with it for several months now, I can report that it is more than living up to its billing. Whether you're scheduling work on ONE non-z/OS server, or over a thousand, if the level of integration of that work with the mainframe work is high... so as to minimize the advantages of the "E2E-Classic" Fault Tolerance... or if the reliability of your IP network is not an issue... then I think you'll be VERY HAPPY with this new option.
Ok, let's talk a bit about maintenance. If you're moving from any prior release of TWSz to V8R5M0, then you'll want to take a hard look at technote 1403462:
Technote 1403462
This lists the five APARS that route fixes from 8.3 to 8.5.0 that became available too late to be included in the GA code. Alternatively, you can enter the searchword "83LATE" in the search window on any page of www.ibm.com. That searchword has been added to each of the target APARs and the technote.
For those of you preparing to move to TWSz 8.5.1, there are, so far, only two such cumulative APARS bringing 8.5.0 fixes forward to 8.5.1. They are PM01313 and PM01316, and are tagged with searchword "85LATE". If/when any further such APARS are created, we'll add that searchword, and probably by the time this newsletter is published (or soon thereafter), there will be a technote available with details.
That's pretty much all I have for this visit. I'm looking forward to seeing you all in Arizona in April. Until then, stay warm, be cool, and take care.
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| IBM TechNotes & Downloads & Information |
Top TechNotes 
Important Downloads
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Sponsor Update: SEGUS Inc. |
TWS/WebAdmin for zOS
- TWS/Webadmin V3 Fixpack 005 is available
- TWS/Webadmin V2.1 Fixpack 004 is current.
- Users of TWS/Webadmin V2.1 should consider upgrading to Postgresl V8. Postgresql V8 provides better stability and efficiencies over older V7 releases.
SmartIS
V3.4 is anticipated April/May 2009. A partial list of new features includes:
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Barcharts based on TWS run history
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Consolidated "Crontab" displays
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Eclipse plug-in interface
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Assembler program parser
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unused code detector for COBOL
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CICS transaction history from SMF
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Java code scanner
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"Google like" search engine for productionSmartJCL V2.4
SmartJCL
V3 of SmartJCL is anticipated for May 2009. Key features include: 
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Creation and management of site specific rules by a "user friendly" dialog.
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Simulation of ACS class
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Continued performance enhancementsV3.0 will also include a major milestone:
 Over the past fifteen years, SEGUS has emerged as the leader in operations management, specializing in job scheduling enhancements and add-on products to ensure that customers get the most benefit possible from their scheduling investments. Renowned for its quality customer relations, SEGUS has strong ties with the German HORIZONT GmbH and is the sole distributor of HORIZONT's product line in North America. SEGUS has been a platinum sponsor at ASAP for the past 13 years. For more information please visit SEGUS Inc. or contact us at support@segus.com.
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| Sponsor Update: APS|ENTERprise Software |
Move TWS towards ITSM, utilizing the Integrated Development Environment for all Production Elements.
Many different people are involved in the specification and development of TWS definitions, JCL´s, scripts and the propagation of these production elements into the different target environments.
Historically grown, outdated, complex and non-integrated toolsets lead to inefficiencies, inflexibility and overcomplicate the integration of the Workload Automation solution in an ITSM based architecture.
VISUALjob EPD overcomes the limitations of existing environments by applying modern development principles to the workload automation area:
VISUALjob EPD is a highly integrated, graphical development environment for the generation and maintenance of
VISUALjob EPD is an extension to VISUALjob for TWS, the graphical solution for TWS for z/OS and TWS End to End,which covers:
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Batch design (development and maintenance of TWS definitions),
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Graphical Documentation and Cross Reference Reporting,
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Quality Assurance and Graphical Workload Simulation,
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Runtime Reporting
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Graphical Workload Analysis
With VISUALjob EPD, organizations can now apply modern software engineering principles and processes to the development and propagation of batch processes resulting in:
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Significant quality and productivity improvements
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High flexibility to react to new demands
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Higher staff flexibility
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Improved knowledge and communication
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Compliance with regulatory requirements
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Significant cost reductions
APS|ENTERprise Software will introduce VISUALjob EPD to the North-American market at the 2010 ASAP TWS User Education Conference.
Do not miss the VISUALjob and VISUALjob EPD presentations at the 2010 ASAP TWS User Education Conference.
 APS|ENTERprise is a leading provider of value added solutions for batch production and output management packages such as Control-M, TWS for z/OS, CA-7 and Control-D and a sponsor of ASAP 2010. |
| Sponsor Update: Stonebranch |
Stonebranch Releases SOA Solutions for Infitran and Indesca: Managed File Transfer and Job Scheduling solutions enable organizations to leverage existing capabilities through SOA Atlanta, GA (Nov. 05, 2009) - Stonebranch announced today a new release of Infitran™, its Intelligent Managed File Transfer solution, and Indesca™, its Independent Job Scheduling Agents solution, for SOA. Stonebranch's Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) solution extends Indesca and Infitran for application integration, messaging and integrated workload management. The Stonebranch SOA solution supports HTTP, SOAP and JMS, enabling organizations to leverage existing capabilities and modernize their infrastructure through SOA. With the addition of support for native MQ Series, Stonebranch continues to offer tools for modernization of legacy environments through SOA regardless of platform. Jon Gatrell, vice president of product management for Stonebranch, said, "SOA is a critical requirement for application integration and improved automation for businesses who need to enable online access to legacy platforms for improving the availability of information for customers, managers and operators alike. Many of our customers are enhancing their infrastructures through the use of SaaS offerings and other cloud capabilities which require reusable services which are governed through a single repository of policies." With the Stonebranch SOA solution, a North American retail company is able to integrate real-time transactions within their MQ Series queues, their ERP solution and their legacy batch processes all managed through their existing management and automation infrastructure providing a true business workflow. Wolfgang Bothe, president and CEO of Stonebranch, said, "Infitran and Indesca's SOA capabilities are an integrated offering to extend your Managed File Transfer and Job Scheduling environment. Job Scheduling, workload optimization, application interoperability and Managed File Transfer are integral to a streamlined IT infrastructure. The new SOA enhancements bridge the gap between traditional batch-oriented and online transaction based systems offering integration between systems management and Business Process Management (BPM) solutions. This allows for true system oriented business process management enabling visibility and control while providing top-to-bottom management for application processes." For more information on Infitran, Indesca and Stonebranch, please visit: www.stonebranch.com or contact us at: 678-366-7887. To register for a Webinar for Infitran or Indesca, visit: http://www.stonebranch.com/webinars.html.
 Stonebranch specializes in solving the unique challenges imposed on enterprise organizations at the Global 2000 level.
Infitran and Indesca are trademarks of Stonebranch, Inc.
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| Sponsor Update: Software Enginnering of America |
 Established in 1982 Software Engineering of America has built a worldwide reputation as a leading provider of data center software solutions. With products licensed at over 10,000 data centers worldwide SEA's customers include 9 of the fortune 10 and over 90% of the fortune 500. SEA Solutions are focused in the areas of Batch Optimization, IT Process Automation, Software Cost Reduction, and Application Information Discovery. SEA's provides a full line of Mainframe and AS400 products to help customers achieve more cost-effective and efficient Data Center Management.
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| Sponsor Update: VISIANT Res |
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Merging an Acquired Environment into Your TWS Scheduler
by Mitch McCluhan
For any site currently using IBM's TWS, it is important to always have the ability to quickly and efficiently incorporate any new organization into your production TWS scheduling environment. This is typical in the instances of a bank acquiring another bank system that does not use TWS, or a retailer acquiring a competitor that does not use TWS, or a manufacturing concern acquiring a new subsidiary that does not use TWS, etc. The purpose of this article is to illustrate the issues associated with "blending" newly acquired applications into your current TWS environment. This type of project is almost always time consuming, fraught with potential issues and extremely risk prone. What is needed is the ability to automate this process. It is important to look for a vendor who has the appropriate tool set to accomplish this task automatically with very low risk and with the ability to meet your time schedule.
When considering the merger of an existing non-TWS scheduling system into an existing TWS environment, a fast and efficient conversion process is vital. To ensure a successful conversion and reduce risks, the need for an automated solution which can provide the following capabilities is essential:
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A tool for "graphical flowcharting" of existing schedules and jobs that insures a complete understanding of the objects to be migrated or merged from the source scheduler to TWS.
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An Impact Analysis tool that will significantly reduce the time and effort needed at the beginning of the project and, which will identify the actions that need to be taken.
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A tool for the examination of obsolete objects (schedules and jobs) to reduce the quantity and complexity of the objects to be converted or migrated.
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A graphical interface to monitor both schedulers (source & target) in parallel, to track progress during the conversion/migration.
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A graphical interface designed specifically for use by the batch schedulers so they may quickly and easily understand the new schedules
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A rules-based conversion tool that automatically re-writes JCL objects for the new TWS target environment.
Through the use of an appropriate tool with all the necessary automation and graphical interfaces, an IT organization can receive the benefits of that tool for aiding the conversion, and significantly reduce project time and cost by providing:
- A strong, proven methodology
- A complete understanding of the existing batch schedules.
- Clear picture of how the "Tables" or "Chains" are designed (internal links).
- All the links between Tables or Chains (external links).
- Information about the usage of any conditions and parameters.
Help in designing the standards to be applied to the new or modified schedules (in TWS).
Automatic changes to the non-TWS source schedules in order to prepare for the target TWS nets.
Optional: Automatic change of specific source scheduler components to the target TWS requirements. Automatic creation of the TWS nets to be uploaded using the standard TWS pif. Automatic removal of any old scheduler commands from Jobs.
Automatic JCL and schedule generation, including the TWS commands.
Management of the "bridges" between any old batch scheduler tables or files and the new TWS nets during the process.
A graphical monitoring tool for tracking of the new TWS batch schedules, with upfront notification of any potential problems and deviations from the forecast.
Through the use of the appropriate automated vendor tool, it is now apparent that the migration or conversion of any "new" non-TWS scheduling environment (regardless of the size) can be an easy, automated and low risk project. There is no longer any need to include dozens of staff, thousands of man-hours and significant processing time just to merge a newly acquired organizations processes into your current TWS scheduling environment. It is now simply a matter of:
- Installing and implementing the specific vendor tools (with the assistance of the vendor, where appropriate).
- Assessing the new applications to be merged into your current TWS schedule (again, through the use of the appropriate vendor set of tools).
- Identifying those components, objects and schedules that will be converted/migrated.
- Finalizing the plan and project to perform the required tasks.
- Implementing the automated process (through the use of the automated vendor tools and utilities) to capture and modify only the necessary objects and schedules from the source environment to be placed into the existing TWS scheduler.
- Finally, moving all the new scheduling nets into production.
If your IT organization is considering an acquisition of another business, entity or company, it is imperative that you consider the impact this decision will have on your current IT production batch environment. If the decision is made to move forward, a priority should be placed on what you will need to do in order to successfully, efficiently and quickly merge the new batch processes into your existing TWS scheduler. Having a realistic project plan in place which includes the use of the best of the best automated vendor tools will result in a successful merger and implementation with virtually no obstacles or delays.
Mitch McCluhan, U.S. Sales Manager for VISIANT/RES (www.visiant.com), has been in the mainframe operations and production support area for almost 40 years. He has held positions as an Operations Manager, Operations Supervisor, Production Control Manager, Help Desk Manager and IBM mainframe systems programmer. Included in this span, Mr. McCluhan has also served as product manager for a number of operations and applications automation products and has travelled around the world conducting seminars on the automation of operations, production control, scheduler, rerun/restart, change management and legacy modernization for a variety of North American and International vendors of automation and legacy modernization solutions.
 RES-IT US provides products and services for medium to large Data Centers. One hundred-fifty large data centers around the world are successfully using its solutions, reducing their IT costs.
For more information visit www.visiantres.com or contact Marco Passerini or Mitch McCluhan.
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ASAP News & Updates
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 Call for 2nd Q 2010 Newsletter Articles
Articles for the second quarter issue of the ASAP newsletter are being accepted. Please consider writing a brief article and sharing your experience. Tell us about your experience upgrading to TWS 8.5. Tell us about some helpful tips for the applications used in your shop or about an "in-house" application developed to meet a specific need. Articles are due to MeetingWorks by March 31st.
ASAP's on Facebook! Keep your ASAP network strong and stay connected with the global community of TWS users. Join the ASAP - Tivoli Workload Scheduler (TWS) User Education group on Facebook. It's a great way to keep your TWS network alive and vital. Be sure to check it out! |
| Membership Matters |
 ASAP 2010 Membership Invoices
Invoices along with second and third notices for 2010 membership dues were distributed electronically to voting representatives of membership companies.
In response to the recession, the board of directors has waived the 2010 initiative fee for those companies that were members in good standing for three consecutive years prior to 2009.
Membership may be renewed and paid via VISA, Mastercard or American Express on-line at ASAP 2010. If your voting representative has changed and/or your company has not received a membership invoice, please contact MeetingWorks.
When paying on-line please carefully follow these important instructions:
- If you will NOT be attending ASAP 2010 - TWS USER EDUCATION in Carefree, AZ, then please select "Non-Attendee" when prompted for registration type. Proceed to the merchandize tab and select "2009 Annual Membership Renewal," then proceed to checkout to complete the payment process.
- If you WILL be attending ASAP 20010 - TWS USER EDUCATION in Carefree, AZ, then please select "Member Conference Registration" when prompted for registration type. After completing the conference registration process proceed to the merchandize tab and select "2010 Annual Membership Renewal," then proceed to checkout to complete the payment process.
and the application process, click here.
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Mark Your Calendar ...... |
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February 2010
10 Board of Directors Conference Call - 1 PM ET
March 2010
5 ASAP 2010 - TWS User Education Early Bird Registration Deadline 10 Board of Directors Conference Call - 1 PM ET
31 Articles for the 2nd Quarter Newsletter due to MeetingWorks
April 2010
1 ASAP 2010 - Presentations due to MW for duplication
1 ASAP 2010 - Final Sponsor Payments Due
1-9 Take TWS Certification Assessment if intending to take exam at ASAP 2010
ASAP 2010
22nd Annual TWS Users Conference
April 18-21, 2010
Consistently rated by users as the
"best valued user experience, best organized and
run user conference and best TWS educational training."
Don't miss the unique educational opportunities
available only at ASAP 2010!
Carefree, Arizona
The Leader in TWS Education since 1987
ASAP provides quality training, solutions,
product information and professional resource development.
* STE's are normally finalised (and full details are then available) 2 - 3 weeks before the session. Click on Support Technical Exchange for the latest STE details.
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Leaders in TWS Education since 1987
And let us know what you think ...