Mainframe computers play a central role in the daily operations of many of the world's largest corporations, and batch processing is a fundamental part of the workloads that run on the mainframe. A large portion of the workload on IBM® z/OS® systems is processed in batch mode. Although several IBM Redbooks® publications discuss application modernization on the IBM z/OS platform, this book specifically addresses batch processing in detail.

Many different technologies are available in a batch environment on z/OS systems. This book demonstrates these technologies and shows how the z/OS system offers a sophisticated environment for batch. In this practical book, we discuss a variety of themes that are of importance for batch workloads on z/OS systems and offer examples that you can try on your own system.

The audience for this book includes IT architects and application developers, with a focus on batch processing on the z/OS platform.

Chapter 1. Executive overview of batch modernization on z/OS

Part 1. Overview of batch processing

Chapter 2. Introduction to batch modernization on z/OS

Chapter 3. Bulk processing reference architecture

Part 2. Serving new functional requirements in z/OS batch

Chapter 4. Implement new functionality using traditional languages

Chapter 5. Introduction to Java on z/OS

Chapter 6. Implement new functionality using Java in traditional containers

Chapter 7. Implement new functionality using stand-alone Java

Chapter 8. Implement new functionality using Java in WebSphere XD Compute Grid

Chapter 9. Implement new functionality using PHP on z/OS

Chapter 10. Summary of new functional requirements in z/OS batch

Chapter 11. Batch environment enhancements in z/OS V1R13

Part 3. Implement agile batch

Chapter 12. Create agile batch by optimizing theInformation Management architecture

Chapter 13. Create agile batch by optimizing DB2 access

Chapter 14. Create agile batch by implementing trigger mechanisms

Part 4. Improve batch efficiency

Chapter 15. Approaches and techniques to reduce the batch window

Chapter 16. Increasing concurrency by exploiting BatchPipes

Chapter 17. Batch application design and patterns in WebSphere XDCompute Grid

Chapter 18. Java performance best practices

Chapter 19. Increasing batch efficiency by using performance instrumentation

Part 5. Reduce batch complexity

Chapter 20. Reduce batch complexity using a Business Rules ManagementSystem

Chapter 21. Reduce batch complexity using middleware for transformation logic

Chapter 22. Reduce batch complexity by eliminating custom file transfer logic

Chapter 23. Reduce complexity by exploiting DFSORT / ICETOOL

Part 6. Appendixes

Appendix A. DB2 configuration

Appendix B. Source code

Appendix C. Additional material