THE SCHEDULING ENVIRONMENT

How difficult is it to prepare a schedule? you might ask. That depends on the size and complexity of your data processing installation in terms of hardware, software, and support personnel. You must consider many things when preparing a schedule. As a start, you have to ask yourself the following questions:

l What types of jobs are to be processed?

o In what processing environment will the jobs run-real-time? online? batch?

l What special-handling requirements are there, if any?

l What amount of work is to be processed (workload)?

As scheduler, you will be responsible for:

Preparing and maintaining established schedules for various time periods: daily, weekly, and monthly;

Reviewing and acting on all types of AIS service requests as they are submitted to you;

Distributing production schedules to various work areas within your AIS facility;

Organizing data processing priorities for both scheduled and nonscheduled work;

Entering jobs into the production job stream to achieve maximum use of computer resources;

Tracking work in progress to ensure everything is running according to schedule;

Analyzing problems in connection with production jobs and adjusting computer processing schedules to use whatever time is available until problems can be corrected and a rerun can be initiated;

Maintaining accurate logs and adhering to administrative reporting requirements; and

Determining the accuracy of schedules based on reviewing production results.

How you go about scheduling work on the computer system will depend on two factors. The first factor deals with how the system is configured. You must consider the number of processors and peripheral devices available and how they interconnect. The second factor deals with the operating mode of the computer. The operating mode may be batch, online, real-time, time sharing, multiprogramming, multiprocessing, teleprocessing, networking, or any combination of these. Having knowledge of the different operating modes will help you understand the operating environment in which you will be working. This knowledge will help you understand how to go about scheduling work for the system.

THE JOB OF SCHEDULER

The job of scheduler, or production control coordinator as it is sometimes called, requires you to have specific knowledge and skills if you are to effectively schedule the computer and the other related activities that revolve around it. You must have a good working knowledge of AIS concepts and be thoroughly familiar with the operation of your facility's computer system(s)-the actual hardware components themselves. You also need to know how the operating system in use works, what applications and production jobs you are to schedule, the time it takes to run them, how to make up job streams using system control language (SCL) statements, and so on.

One of your primary jobs will be to keep production schedules up-to-date and as accurate and complete as possible. In addition to making up production schedules for computer processing, you must be equally concerned with two other factors: precomputer processing and postcomputer processing.

Precomputer processing includes ensuring all inputs are received on time according to prearranged schedules. Postcomputer processing includes ensuring output products are complete, accurate, and delivered to the user when promised. Too often these areas are either overlooked or forgotten, because our interest is generally focused on the computer. We can easily overload or underload precomputer and postcomputer resources. This will have the same effect as overloading or underloading the computer-either user service deteriorates or AIS services are underused. For TOTAL AIS scheduling to be achieved, YOU must consider all of the fictional work areas in the assembly line, especially the end users. All are affected by the scheduling process, and because of this, you must give each work area proper consideration.

Having working knowledge and experience in the fictional areas for which you will prepare schedules will also help you. As scheduler, you will be putting

together information from several sources: I/O control, data entry, and the magnetic media library.

Depending upon how your AIS facility is structured, your operational requirements will include tasks, duties, and functions as follows:

* Receive user job requests.

l Analyze production requirements.

l Assign job/run control numbers.

l Maintain accurate logs.

l Carry out administrative reporting requirements.

o Prepare production schedules.

l Write SCL statements.

o Make up job streams for production runs.

l Maintain and revise production schedules.

l Distribute production schedules.

o Monitor production.

l Know how jobs interface.

l Be able to read console run sheets and logs.

o Know the capabilities and capacities of the computer systems.

l Know the files in use and how to reconstruct them.

8 Know how to readjust schedules.

l Know the time it takes to run each production job.

As scheduler, you will work on your own with only minimal supervision. To be effective, you will need more than a good working knowledge of your facility's hardware components, data processing concepts, operating systems, and system control languages. You must be able to:

Work well with other people;

Demonstrate tact and diplomacy;

Use sound judgment;

Be logical, systematic, and persuasive;

Demonstrate analytical ability;

Be a good communicator (speaking, listening, and writing); and . Be responsive to users' needs.

The job of a scheduler is a high-visibility position. You will be responsible not only for the flow of work throughout the AIS facility but also for the amount of work that will be accomplished within an allocated period of time.