Advanced Systems Concepts Adds to ActiveBatch®'s Already Powerful BI and Data Warehousing Support

MORRISTOWN, N.J., Jan. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Advanced Systems Concepts, Inc. (ASCI), maker of ActiveBatch® Workload Automation and Job Scheduling Software, today announced a major advancement in Business Intelligence (BI) and data warehousing automation via the debut of Service Pack 3 for ActiveBatch, now in Version 8.0. Service Pack 3 offers ActiveBatch support for several of the highest profile and most popular BI and data warehousing platforms—IBM Cognos 8 BI, IBM InfoSphere DataStage and Teradata Integrated Data Warehouse and Data Appliances—as well as the Oracle PeopleSoft suite of business performance software.

Through its new Extensions and Job Steps, ActiveBatch V8 SP3 helps modern enterprises achieve greater accuracy, timeliness and value for their BI and data warehousing programs. With ActiveBatch, IT operations can automate the integration of key data repositories and resources with data warehouses for improved data quality, reporting and real-time analysis.

Once strictly a backroom IT operation, Business Intelligence has emerged as one of the most fundamental business planning and management tools. Used by both technical and non-technical personnel in disciplines ranging from manufacturing and human resources to finance and marketing, BI—and the data warehouses upon which it depends—are essential for daily decision-making.

With the advent of ActiveBatch V8 SP3, IT automation personnel can automate the execution of mission-critical BI and data warehouse jobs across multiple disparate systems and applications, all from within the central ActiveBatch console and without having to rely on custom scripting. Specific product support includes:

• IBM Cognos Business Intelligence—The new ActiveBatch Extension for Cognos BI adds scheduling capabilities for many IBM Cognos job steps including the creation and updating of IBM Cognos analytic cubes, execution of reports, and more. Cognos users will benefit through the use of ActiveBatch's core scheduling capabilities that include constraints, event triggers, monitoring, alerts, and audits, as well as the integration of Cognos with other data sources, applications and processes.
• IBM InfoSphere DataStage—Part of the IBM Information Platforms Solutions Suite, InfoSphere DataStage is a powerful ETL (Extract, Transform and Load) tool. Service Pack 3 provides an ActiveBatch Extension for DataStage within its Jobs Library that automates and integrates DataStage resources and tasks within the larger data warehousing/BI environment for maximum efficiency. Tasks include listing, running and stopping DataStage ETL jobs.
• Teradata—The new ActiveBatch Extension for Teradata, part of Service Pack 3, provides scheduling capabilities including constraints, event triggers, monitoring, alerts, audits and more for Teradata database, data warehousing, and analytics applications. With the extension, users can natively schedule Teradata tasks, and build workflows that integrate them with other data sources, applications and processes, all without the need for custom scripting.
• PeopleSoft—Service Pack 3, using the ActiveBatch Extension for PeopleSoft, puts the execution of PeopleSoft jobs and processes in a single, cross-platform scheduling interface. The extension also integrates PeopleSoft tasks with other disparate applications, databases and technologies without custom scripting, enabling IT staff to incorporate PeopleSoft jobs as part of larger workflows.

The new product support found in Service Pack 3 adds to existing ActiveBatch support for BI and data warehousing solutions including Informatica PowerCenter, Netezza, SAP Business Objects and SAP Crystal Reports.

To illustrate the power provided by Service Pack 3, an IT organization could use the new IBM Cognos and InfoSphere DataStage job steps to build a workflow that automates the entire data warehousing/BI process from A to Z. A file transfer could trigger a workflow that uses DataStage to load data from disparate data sources into a single warehouse, create an analytics cube within Cognos, execute a Cognos report, format them, and distribute the finished reports via email, all without manual intervention.

"The need for real-time and near-real-time information in today's business environment is critical to organizational success. With timeframes shrinking, BI users must have up-to-the-minute data," said Jim Manias, Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Advanced Systems Concepts. "The debut of Service Pack 3 for ActiveBatch V8 is another milestone in transforming job scheduling and workload automation from a routine IT function into a technology that lies at the very heart of enterprise activity."

SP3 Availability

ActiveBatch V8 SP3 will be available for all ActiveBatch users participating in the company's ActiveBatch Version Upgrade program on January 26, 2012. ActiveBatch Extensions are separately licensed; for more information about ActiveBatch V8 or the new Service Pack 3, log on to www.advsyscon.com.

About Advanced Systems Concepts, Inc.:
Headquartered in Morristown, New Jersey, Advanced Systems Concepts, Inc. offers many software products and options for users of Windows, UNIX, Linux, HP OpenVMS and NSK systems as well as IBM z/OS, AIX, i5OS and SCO UNIX.  These products provide answers to software developers and system managers with improved system efficiency and utilization.  Advanced Systems Concepts has a worldwide base of customers in over 42 countries around the world.  Advanced Systems Concepts is a Microsoft Silver Certified Partner and a member of the Microsoft System Center Alliance.  It is also an SAP software solution partner, an Informatica Partner, a Netezza Technology Partner, a Teradata Select Partner, an Oracle Gold Partner, an HP Business Partner, an IBM Business Partner, a member of the VMware TAP program, certified Red Hat Ready Partner, a Novell ISV Vendor.  For more information, see the company's website at http://www.advsyscon.com or call 1-800-229-2724 or 1-973-539 2660.

Copyright © 2012 Advanced Systems Concepts, Inc.  ActiveBatch is a registered trademark of Advanced Systems Concepts, Inc.  Other company and/or product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Advanced Systems Concepts, Inc.