January 11, 2011 – Advanced Systems Concepts announced Version 8 of ActiveBatch V8. Version 8 introduces a number of improvements ranging from a simpler, more powerful Operations View to multiple enhancements to its Integrated Jobs Library that minimize and/or eliminate scripting altogether. Among the Jobs Library enhancements that remove complexity, improve service levels and reduce the cost of operations are the following:* Greatly improved and integrated support for Java (J2EEE). While ActiveBatch has always supported the execution of Java applets, V8 now supports the direct invocation of Java objects and methods as part of its Jobs Library framework, meaning no Java wrapper is required to invoke Java methods as part of a workflow.* Integrated JMS and JMX support.
Built-in JMS (Java Messaging Services) Job Steps allow for sending/receiving JMS messages; a new trigger event, JMS Receive, can be used to trigger workflows and pass information received from a JMS message. JMX (Java Management Extension) is supported with both Job Step and Event Triggers. JMS and JMX are provided as part of ActiveBatch and do not require separate licensing.* New Informatica PowerCenter and Netezza Job Steps. The Informatica Job Steps now support tighter cross-platform integration through the use of Informatica’s Workflow Web Services facility.
With V8, Netezza support is enhanced to include integrated support for NZ-PLSQL, NZload and NZ backup.* Object level integrated support for Powershell. ActiveBatch V8 provides improved integration and execution of Powershell scripts by offering object passing from one job step to another. In addition, V8 supports both implicit and explicit remoting for agentless execution of Powershell scripts within a workflow. * Support for Microsoft System Center suite of products including Virtual Machine Manager and Service Manager in addition to the existing support for Operations Manager.
New Job Steps allow a user to create and otherwise maintain an incident that is registered with the Service Manager; for Virtual Machine Manager a user can improve resource utilization by provisioning -Hyper-V, VMware and other virtual machine systems within workflows. Other Jobs Library additions support tasks involving SSL Certificate management, OpenPGP and Secure Shell (SSH) job steps. OpenPGP support makes it easier to encrypt and decrypt tasks that use open-source OpenPGP technology, while SSH Command support provides another agentless approach to the execution of commands on remote systems. GUI, Line of Business Improvements The new Operations View in V8 allows users to visually organize and review jobs dynamically based on their status (recent Past, Present and immediate Future).
The new view, which includes filters and search criteria, is perfect for large scale job processing operations. An Alerts/Notification View also lets operators observe as well as interact with alert-able audits; alerts that do not require a response are listed in the Notification pane, while with the new “ActiveBatch Event Request” action, alerts can be placed so that a specific operator can take ownership of the issue and manage it through to completion. Also important is ActiveBatch V8’s support of Microsoft WCF Line Of Business (LOB) adapters that can invoke Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle Stored Procedures or Functions, Microsoft .NET or COM Assemblies that can directly invoke any method without the need for scripting.
Availability
ActiveBatch Version 8 is now available for licensing, as well as by automatic upgrade for companies participating in ASCI’s ActiveBatch Version Upgrade program.