Batch processing redesign

The processing of core tasks in a commercial enterprise, such as order processing, parts of the inventory, scheduling, invoicing and posting goods, is the responsibility of a system that has grown up over decades. The prevailing technical hardware requirements at the time, limited resources and the style of software development are the reasons for the close interdependence between the individual work steps, some of which are functionally independent. Suitable measures have to be taken so that the failure of one of these work steps no longer leads to the complete failure of the part of the nightly batch processing that is considered business critical. On the basis of an intensive analysis of the programs, processes and dependencies, the job chain is restructured according to functional criteria and divided up into smaller, self-contained units. Upstream backup mechanisms for the data to be processed guarantee that, in the event of a termination, the processing continues correctly.