Best Practices in JCL Management
Understand the issues that must be addressed in every IT organization for production error prevention through the deployment of Best Practices for managing JCL as an asset.
Detecting JCL Syntax and run-time errors before they occur is your first key to successful JCL management. A one-character syntax error, a missing dataset, or an unexpected security violation can cost hours of lost production time. JCLplus+ prevents these errors by providing the most comprehensive runtime simulation available.
JCLplus+ thoroughly validates JCL syntax, automates the enforcement of site standards and automates changes to JCL. JCLplus+ is engineered for high-speed, accurate syntax checking, simple yet powerful automated change functionality and cross-platform needs.
Clearly and consistently formatted JCL is critical for management to be able to spot errors and omissions that, if left undetected, could be costly. Well-formatted JCL also allows you to understand your JOBs and PROCs at a glance for increased productivity. JCLplus+ automatically reformats your JCL to your specifications. An entire library of JCL can be quickly and easily reformatted eliminating numerous hours of error-prone hand coding.
Tightly enforced standards in JCL coding practices, naming conventions, and resource utilization increase productivity by improving reliability, reducing outages and protecting investments made in JCL optimization projects. JCLplus+ facilitates defining and enforcing JCL standards with its intuitive rules language. Standards enforcement rules can also be written in REXX, COBOL, or Assembler. Violations of in-house standards can virtually be eliminated.
In the dynamic environment of an enterprise data center, being able to respond quickly and effectively to change is critical. New operating systems, additional devices, software updates and merged environments due to corporate acquisitions are just some of the factors that necessitate JCL modifications. JCLplus+ facilitates making these updates to your JCL across the entire enterprise. It not only ensures that changes and mods are applied correctly; it also optionally validates the accuracy of these updates all in a single operation, offering very dynamic JCL management.
To meet critical batch window requirements, modern Mainframe data centers employ job schedulers that often add yet another level of complexity to JCL management. Systems like TWS/z, Control-M, ESP, Zeke, CA-7 and others allow your JCL to contain intricate strings of proprietary or non-standard variables and directives that are typically resolved at job submission time. JCLplus+ supports a wide range of these systems. By resolving job scheduler symbolics and directives before syntax checking and validation, JCLplus+ can not only detect improperly specified variables and directives, it also ensures that the JCL is error-free and meets your requirements.
All of the well-known Best Practices Frameworks including ITIL, CMMI, Six Sigma stress the importance of reporting and metrics in managing process maturity. JCLplus+ embraces this requirement by providing automated creation, collection and reporting of JCL metrics to manage process maturity and validate investments made in your JCL products and Best Practices.