CASE STUDY: RES Suite supporting the migration to IBM Z Workload Scheduler
A US healthcare insurance organization migrated its existing workload scheduler to IBM Z Workload Scheduler. Thanks to the RES methodology and the support of RES Suite, the project ensured operational continuity in a complex mainframe environment. Key benefits included reduced licensing costs, shorter project timelines and a highly automated migration process.
THE CONTEXT
The customer is one of the leading healthcare insurance organizations in the state of Kansas, USA. The organization operates in a sector where continuity, reliability and control of IT processes are essential to support day-to-day operations.
Its IT infrastructure is based on a complex mainframe environment, with a large number of jobs scheduled every day to support core business processes.
The scheduler was therefore a critical component of daily operations. Any intervention had to be carefully managed to minimize risks and ensure service continuity.
THE CHALLENGE
The customer needed to move away from its existing workload scheduler, which had become increasingly costly due to the vendor’s commercial policies.
The decision to migrate to IBM Z Workload Scheduler was driven by a clear business need: reduce costs, maintain full control over scheduled processes and ensure operational continuity in a complex mainframe environment with a large and business-critical scheduling estate.
The migration had to be managed with minimal impact on day-to-day operations, avoiding significant downtime and ensuring a structured, secure and controlled transition.
THE SOLUTION
RES IT, in collaboration with its IBM partner, managed the complete migration from the existing workload scheduler to IBM Z Workload Scheduler, using RES Suite to support the analysis, automation and control of the process.
The methodology included:
- a preliminary assessment of the source environment using Docet;
- an analysis phase and definition of the migration strategy;
- customization of the migration tool to achieve 99% automation;
- generation of target definitions using J-MAN;
- execution of the migration through an automated batch job;
- a testing phase.
Because the entire source environment is stored in the RES Suite database, any project changes did not require the process to start from scratch. Only the affected components needed to be regenerated.
Docet, part of RES Suite, supports software documentation and qualitative analysis through application mapping, impact analysis, KPI assessment and verification against software development best practices.
THE BENEFITS
Reduced costs
The customer significantly reduced the costs associated with its workload scheduler, moving away from a commercial contract that had become economically unsustainable.
50% shorter migration time
Thanks to the 99% level of automation achieved with RES Suite, the project reduced migration time by approximately 50% compared with traditional methodologies.
Greater project flexibility
The repeatability of the process made it possible to manage changes during the project without starting from scratch, regenerating only the affected components.
Operational continuity and control
The migration was carried out while preserving operational continuity and maintaining control over the scheduling estate throughout every stage of the project.
