Researching the Problem In  researching  the  problem,  you  will  need  the  abort code. With the abort code, you can determine the cause and what action will need to be taken to get the user processing again. Solving  the  Problem To solve the problem, the operator may have to reboot the computer, reload a disk file, contact the programmer, or have the users restart processing. All these solutions are dependent on what the abort code is. Monitoring Help-Desk Support You will need to review the help-desk log to determine if the problems reported can be corrected by changing or adding a training program. To solve the problem,  you  may  need  to  update  the  program documentation to show the problem and its cause and solution. Be sure the users are receiving the types and levels of support they need. Listen to them. Ask if they are satisfied with the help-desk support. What else do they need? Listen to your staff, get their ideas, and work with them to continually improve support. PRODUCTION  CONTROL When you hear the term production control, you usually think of the quality of the facility’s output products. This is not the only area of concern. You should be looking at all areas of production, particularly daily operations. DAILY   OPERATIONS You will want to look at the previous day’s log. Evaluate what happened. l l l l l l Were all scheduled jobs run? When something went wrong, was the user notified? What action was taken to correct the problem? Was the job rerun? Was it necessary to rerun a series of jobs? If so, was it done? Are there corrections/adjustments you need to make to the workload schedule for today? Remember, you are responsible for overseeing the work  accomplished.  Provide  feedback  to  the  production control coordinator, I/O control clerk, and shift super- visor, as needed, to improve performance and operation. Talk to the subsystem coordinators; are they satisfied with the service and the products? Look carefully at new applications: How does the new application affect the other applications running concurrently? Can the system efficiently handle the new work or do adjustments need to be made to the job mix and schedules? What is the impact of the new application on online user response time? Look carefully at modified applications: What is their impact on the system? Does it take more or less time to process the modified applications? Were any problems encountered? Do you need to talk to users about the impact of  changes  on  the  overall  workload  or throughput time? Look for trends in the production process: — Are there times when the system seems overloaded and slow? —  Are  jobs  backlogged  that  must  be  run  the next  day? — Are there times when the system is almost idle? Your review of daily operations and asking yourself these questions will provide valuable input to that process as well as having an impact on how jobs will be scheduled  in  the  future. OUTPUT REPORTS Output  reports  can  be  broken  into  two  major categories—management and customer/user reports. Management Reports Management reports are usually a consolidation of information  prepared  for  presentations  and  briefings. These reports sometimes require a cover letter or your comments as to the content. You will need to review 1-21