BMC CONTROL-M Solutions for Java Applications solution WHITEPAPER
Table of Contents introduction... 1 JAva applications... 2 new scheduling arena... 2 MEEting new scheduling arena needs... 2 BMC control-m solution for java applications... 3. Java Applications Definition... 3. End-to-End Business Process Management... 3. Additional Integration Technologies... 4. > Web Services... 4. > Messaging... 4 CAse study... 5 summary... 5
Introduction As business and information technology (IT) forces rapidly change, enterprises must be agile and responsive to keep in step. At the same time, the IT infrastructure should be driven by the value it can bring to the business. To address this need, IT organizations invest heavily in integration and automation by using service-oriented architecture (SOA). Service-oriented architecture provides a framework that bridges the gap between the business model and the applications that drive the business, enabling efficient business operation. The Java standard has become the underlying foundation in delivering the SOA strategy, promoting efficient IT operations, and minimizing expensive integration efforts. This document outlines the challenges of integrating Java applications into scheduled business processes, and discusses how batch-scheduling management and BMC Software solutions can address those challenges.
Java Applications Java technology has become the tool of choice for applicattion development, surpassing technologies such as CICS and BEA Tuxedo. Java technology is used to develop more efficient and robust applications, based on standards such as J2SE (Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition) and J2EE (Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition). Java applications are used in various application server envirronments, including IBM WebSphere, BEA WebLogic, and JBOSS. The application server manages many functions for the application, such as transaction management, security, communication, and connectivity to the database layer. This management lets developers focus on the business logic of the application, and deliver better applications, faster. New Scheduling Arena As Java-based applications become an integral part of autommated business processes, they should be fully integrated with external applications. Defining and managing these integrated business processes has created a need for integgration and management in a batch context, and has spurred the following changes within the scheduling arena. > The complexity of business processes has grown. One business process can include new Java applications, homegrown applications, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, and legacy applications, across various physical locations. > The boundaries of business processes have expanded and often span across enterprises. > The granularity of managed tasks has decreased. if traditional batch processing is considered long in. execution, tasks invoking Java entities may execute in much shorter periods, so that more tasks can be managed. Meeting New Scheduling Arena Needs Frequently, applications are deployed without consideration for total integration. Because there are few out-of-the-box solutions for integrating Java applications with other enterpprise processes, homegrown and point solutions typically are used. Unfortunately, these makeshift solutions may be expensive, are difficult to maintain and monitor in the production environment, usually do not solve existing production problems, and will ultimately cause delays and damage the business. Exception handling, and the associated workflows in homeggrown solutions, frequently are hard coded. However, by using a job scheduler, these exceptions and workflows can be processed automatically. In many cases, file transfer software or scripts that send data through magnetic media (or to another application or business partner) are enough to meet batch integration requirements. But this approach cannot handle dependencies efficiently, nor provide a reliable means for automation and integration. Although some companies have tried to increase reliability through extensive external scripting, that process is time-consuming, difficult to maintain, and can be problematic if there are external job, task, platform, or application dependencies. As a result, companies often use unreliable methods to handle complex dependencies across applications, databases, and business partners often at great risk. Without sufficient solutions, application developers must build in batch-scheduuling functionality. New Enterprise Projects 100% Other Architectures (CICS, Tuxedo, PL/SQL, AS/400, CGI, Script and 4GL).NET 50% COM/COM+ J2EE CORBA 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Figure 1. Leading analysts concur that J2EE is the most widely used application development technology
BMC CONTROL-M Solution for Java Applications The BMC CONTROL-M Business Process Integration Suite gives you enhanced functionality at all stages of the Java application s job lifecycle, from definition to execution to post-processing. Java Applications Definition The BMC CONTROL-M Business Process Integration Suite has a custom GUI that lets you define Java applications in BMC CONTROL-M. This GUI enables users to: > Specify the account an account is a logical name that encapsulates an application server > Specify an EJB/Java Class and method from a list of entities that are deployed on the specific server, and subsequently a list of methods of the specific entity > List operation parameters (once a method is selected, BMC CONTROL-M Business Process Integration Suite leverages the strength of Java and J2EE standards, to dynamically display a list of all the input parameters available for the selected operation) BMC CONTROL-M/Enterprise Manager (BMC CONTROL-M/ EM) monitors Java application execution, similarly to other jobs monitored by BMC CONTROL-M. All of the functionality available in BMC CONTROL-M/EM is also available for Java applications jobs. The job completion status is determined according to the Success or Exception alert that is returned from the applicattion server. This standard prevents ambiguous returned. status interpretation. The sysout analysis mechanism in BMC CONTROL-M (postprocessing) receives the returned message either with the returned data or with an exception. BMC CONTROL-M then automatically analyzes the sysout and executes predefined rules for automatic responses. Based on returned data, BMC CONTROL-M can add or delete a prerequisite condition, send an e-mail, force another job to the scheduler, and more. End-to-End Business Process Management With its advanced scheduling capabilities, the BMC. CONTROL-M Business Process Integration Suite tightly. integrates Java processes with batch processes running. in other business environments, to achieve a truly unified, manageable business flow. BMC CONTROL-M architecture maximizes business process automation by providing dynamic cross-platform and cross-application scheduling capabilities such as multiple job dependencies, workload balancing, and status-based business flow. Figure 2. A specialized Java application form allows for easy job definition
Additional Integration Technologies The BMC CONTROL-M Business Process Integration Suite gives you additional integration technologies that support the following Web Services and messaging processes. Web Services > Allows the scheduling of Web Services as batch jobs > Allows for external applications to call CONTROL-M API functions, such as creating a new job or manipulating job flows via an invocation of a Web Service > Enables dependencies between Web Service jobs and non-web Service jobs across platforms and applications > Does not need coding or wrappers Messaging > Allows to send a message to a message queue, and optionally wait for a response message > Allows for external applications to call CONTROL-M API functions, such as creating a new job or manipulating job flows by sending a message to a message queue > Enables dependencies between messaging jobs and non-messaging jobs across platforms and applications > Supports JMS as well as IBM WebSphere MQ > Does not need coding or wrappers Figure 3. Management Trading System, a business-process view in BMC CONTROL-M
Case Study The following scenario describes a critical business process at a large investment bank, using BMC CONTROL-M for batch scheduling. Bank traders use a risk management application developed in Java and deployed on WebSphere. A trader builds a set of positions and, when the positions are ready, the trader requests a risk analysis. The risk analysis request triggers a job flow within the bank s job scheduler (a BMC CONTROL-M product) to calculate the overall risk of the trades. This job flow calculates risk based on multiple data sources. Each source is a different application, varying from mainframe-based, homegrown, packaged, Web services, to Java applications. The BMC CONTROL-M product executes the job flow across the various bank systems and synchronizes it with similar job flows executed by other traders. When the risk analysis is completed (usually within a few minutes), the trader makes a go/no-go decision on the trade. If the trader decides to proceed, the transaction is performed. The execution is performed in the trading system using another Java application that in this scenario is deployed on a WebLogic application server. Summary Many enterprise business processes today span various Javabased applications. These business processes must be managed efficiently, easily, and without the need for new coding. BMC CONTROL-M meets the challenges of managing Java technology, through enterprise batch scheduling. It integrates all batch processes seamlessly across the enterpprise by interacting directly with J2EE-enabled application servers to invoke any Java entity as batch jobs. Even SAP and homegrown applications meld into a unified, manageable business process. BMC CONTROL-M manages critical batch business processes from a business perspective. By associating business relevvance to critical batch processes, CONTROL-M ensures that any delay or error in execution is automatically detected, reported, and corrected. The new product capabilities that manage Java applications and business processes, as well as traditional batch processes, make BMC CONTROL-M the only scheduling solution to address the three core elements of a true scheduling solution: > Application integration Provides a comprehensive solution for business processes that are spread across mainframe and distributed systems, ERP applications, Web services, and Java applications. > Focal point of management Provides superior administration, monitoring, and management capabilities for batch business processes, regardless of platform, application, or geographic location. > Business perspective Associates batch processes to critical business services, automatically detecting any delay or error in execution, and thus ensuring the availability of critical business services Figure 4. A business-critical process at a large investment bank
About BMC Software BMC Software helps IT organizations drive greater business value through better management of technology. Our industry-leading Business Service Management solutions ensure that everything IT does is prioritized according to business impact, so IT can proactively address business requirements to lower costs, drive revenue, and mitigate risk. BMC solutions share BMC Atrium TM technologies to enable IT to manage across the complexity of diverse systems and processes from mainframe to distributed, databases to applications, service to security. Founded in 1980, BMC Software has offices worldwide and fiscal 2005 revenues of more than $1.46 billion. BMC Software. Activate your business with the power of IT. For more information, visit www.bmc.com. BMC Software, the BMC Software logos, and all other BMC Software product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of BMC Software, Inc.. All other trademarks belong to their respective companies. 2006 BMC Software, Inc. All rights reserved. 61024 *61024*