PRODUCT SHEET CA Process Automation for System z CA Process Automation for System z 3.1 CA Process Automation for System z helps enable enterprise organizations to design, deploy and administer automation of manual, resource-intensive and often inconsistent IT operational procedures. Business value Most organizations operate in silos and the lack of integration between departments and IT systems prevents many processes from being automated. Without automation, companies are burdened with manual, slow and inconsistent processes that take too long and cause service delivery to be delayed which ultimately impacts the bottom line of the business and affects customer satisfaction. CA Process Automation is designed to help speed the delivery of IT services by removing the burden of manual processes that can be error-prone and slow. By defining, automating and orchestrating processes across organizational silos that use disparate systems, CA Process Automation helps improve productivity while also enforcing organizations standards and service level agreements. With CA Process Automation, you can: Automate IT processes across functional and technology silos Reduce the time it takes to deliver services Enforce standards and compliance policies across departments
Product overview CA Process Automation includes three main components: Design: Using the automation library, designers can quickly create and test new processes. The library consists of several hundred automation objects enabling rapid design. Process designers may use either the graphical user interface or write scripts to automate new processes. Existing legacy automation scripts may also be imported into the version controlled library and reused to help speed development. Integration: This release now supports direct integration with CA OPS/MVS Event Management and Automation. A standard set of connectors provides integration to a wide variety of common IT systems. These connectors have the ability to read and write data and to launch tasks within applications, operating systems and other IT components. Custom connectors can be built for connecting to legacy and proprietary IT systems by using the Custom Operator wizard. Orchestration: Once in production, processes execute in a highly-scalable and faulttolerant environment. The web-based interface allows administrators to quickly see the status and state of each process being executed. As processes execute, each step is automatically recorded into an audit log that can be archived for historical, reporting or forensic purposes. + + FIGURE A. CA Process Automation Only CA Process Automation uses swim lanes to visualize, optimize and organize complex processes across functional and organizational boundaries. Running processes can be monitored and modified at any step. + + 2
Features CA Process Automation for System z has adopted key features that are designed to simplify your use and administration of CA Process Automation for System z and enable your staff to maintain it more effectively and quickly. CA Mainframe Software Manager : CA Mainframe Software Manager (CA MSM) is designed to automate CA Process Automation for System z acquisition, installation, deployment, configuration and maintenance and remove SMP/E complexities. CA MSM helps save time and resources when compared with the manual steps used to perform these tasks. The Software Acquisition Service is designed to help you to more easily move product installation packages and maintenance from CA Support Online directly to your mainframe environment and prepare them for installation. The Software Installation Service standardizes CA Process Automation for System z installation, which includes a new, streamlined Electronic Software Delivery (ESD) method that allows CA Process Automation for System z to be installed using standard utilities. This service also provides standardized SMP/E product installation and maintenance via APARs and PTFs, and simplifies SMP/E processing through an intuitive graphical user interface and an intelligent Installation Wizard. The Software Deployment Service enables you to more easily deploy CA Process Automation for System z in your mainframe environment. The Software Configuration Service enables you to more effectively configure CA Process Automation for System z if it has been acquired, installed, maintained and deployed using CA MSM. Serviceability: In order to provide additional levels of information and consistency for problem determination, CA Process Automation for System z has adopted the following serviceability enhancements: Integration with CA OPS/MVS Event Management and Automation System State Manager: CA Process Automation for System z integrates directly with CA OPS/MVS to indicate programmatically its state and readiness in your environment. Visual designer: Process designers may use a point-and-click interface to develop new processes. Designers can organize processes into smaller subcomponents known as swim lanes. Swim lanes simplify design and increase readability by allowing large processes to be broken down into smaller more manageable sections. 3
Connectors: Connectors will provide integration with popular IT systems including operating systems, service desks, business applications and many others. Using the Custom Operator wizard customers can develop their own connectors for integration to legacy and proprietary systems. Visual exception handling: When a process enters an unknown state, it will automatically stop and wait for a resolution. This allows IT personnel to be notified of exceptions, view contextual information needed to solve the issue, and then remediate the situation without having to restart the entire process. Role-based access control: Control exactly who is authorized to create and manage processes using role-based access controls. The fine-grained access controls allow only approved users to add or modify process workflows. Scalability and availability: A highly-scalable architecture provides the ability to execute hundreds of processes simultaneously. High-availability configurations provide fail-over in the event of an infrastructure outage. Run Book Automation The most immediate benefits of process automation often result from automating routine IT procedures, which is also known as Run Book Automation (RBA). RBA reduces the need for IT personnel to manually complete routine tasks. Common examples of RBA include: Problem remediation: Automate the routine tasks associated with responding to common events and alarms without requiring human intervention. For example, automatically restart an operating system process or service when it stops running. Incident enrichment: Leverage process automation to gather additional information from disparate systems that will help diagnose a reported problem. For example, automatically gather diagnostics and log information from devices when a server outage is detected. Audit reporting: Automate the process of retrieving server and application logs needed for an IT audit. For example, schedule a reoccurring process to automatically retrieve logs from the applications, network devices, and servers currently being audited. Applying process automation beyond IT Process automation can provide even more value when it orchestrates a business or IT process that spans multiple organizational boundaries across different domains. Below are just two examples of how process automation can be deployed more broadly. From job applicant to productive employee: Use process automation to automate the recruitment, interview and hiring process. For example, automate the collection of resumes from online job sites into your central HR systems. 4
Automate the process of scheduling interviews and reduce the time it takes to extend job offers to selected candidates. Upon acceptance, initiate the employee on-boarding process to enable the new employee to be productive on their first day. Integrating acquired companies: Acquisitions almost always result in having redundant customer support systems. Use process automation to quickly integrate multiple service desks from different vendors. Automate the process of migrating tickets between customer support systems to provide customers with the highest possible service. Benefits CA Process Automation automates IT processes to help you: Reduce operational expenses Increase staff productivity Speed IT service delivery Improve service quality Enforce compliance polices CA OPS/MVS Event Management and Automation (EMA) helps to improve availability in the z/os environment, maintain business processing, align IT with business needs, manage IT costs, and deliver operational efficiencies. Because CA OPS/MVS EMA is designed to identify and solve problems as they occur, you can limit or eliminate the impact that an event can have on your z/os environment. This helps align IT with business goals by enhancing availability. Early event resolution also helps manage the costs associated with downtime. Delivery approach CA Services provides a portfolio of mainframe services delivered through CA Technologies internal staff and a network of established partners chosen to help you achieve a successful deployment and get the desired business results as quickly as possible. Our standard service offerings are designed to speed deployment and accelerate the learning curve for your staff. CA Technologies field-proven mainframe best practices and training help you lower risk, improve use/adoption and ultimately align the product configuration to your business requirements. 5
The CA Technologies advantage CA Technologies has 35 years of recognized expertise in robust, reliable, scalable, and secure enterprise-class IT management software. CA Process Automation for System z is a key component of the CA Technologies initiative to change the way the mainframe is managed forever by helping you maximize the value of CA Technologies mainframe products and by providing a simplified experience and innovative solutions that deliver value quickly and flexibly. Copyright 2012 CA. All rights reserved. IBM, System z, MVS and z/os are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. All trademarks, trade names, service marks, and logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies. This document is for your informational purposes only. CA assumes no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the information. To the extent permitted by applicable law, CA provides this document as is without warranty of any kind, including, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or noninfringement. In no event will CA be liable for any loss or damage, direct or indirect, from the use of this document, including, without limitation, lost profits, business interruption, goodwill, or lost data, even if CA is expressly advised in advance of the possibility of such damages. CS2304_0412 6