Workload Management

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Introduction to Workload Management

Workload management in CICS involves controlling how tasks are prioritized, scheduled, and executed to optimize system performance and resource utilization. It ensures that critical business functions receive adequate resources while maintaining fair access for all users.

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Task Prioritization

Task prioritization determines the order in which tasks are executed based on priority levels, transaction importance, user classes, and system load. This ensures that critical business functions receive adequate resources.

Priority Levels

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High Priority Transactions:
- Payment processing (PAYM)
- Fund transfers (XFER)
- Account updates (ACCT)
- Security transactions (SECU)
- Emergency procedures (EMRG)
 
Characteristics:
- Immediate execution
- Guaranteed resources
- Minimal queuing
- High availability requirements

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Medium Priority Transactions:
- Account inquiries (INQY)
- Customer service (CUST)
- Report generation (RPT)
- Data validation (VALD)
- Administrative tasks (ADMIN)
 
Characteristics:
- Normal execution priority
- Adequate resource allocation
- Moderate queuing acceptable
- Standard availability

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Low Priority Transactions:
- Batch processing (BATCH)
- Report printing (PRINT)
- Data archiving (ARCH)
- Maintenance tasks (MAINT)
- Non-critical inquiries (NONCRIT)
 
Characteristics:
- Background execution
- Resource sharing
- Longer queuing acceptable
- Lower availability requirements

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CPSM WLM Features

CICSPlex SM Workload Manager (CPSM WLM) provides advanced workload management capabilities including dynamic priority adjustment, resource allocation policies, performance goal management, and integration with z/OS Workload Manager.

Key WLM Features

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Dynamic Priority Features:
- Load-based priority adjustment
- Response time goal management
- Resource availability consideration
- User class priority weighting
- Transaction importance factors
 
Example Scenarios:
- High load: Increase priority for critical transactions
- Low load: Normal priority distribution
- Resource contention: Prioritize efficient transactions
- Performance goals: Adjust based on response times

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Performance Goals:
- Response time targets
- Throughput objectives
- Availability requirements
- Resource utilization limits
- Service level agreements
 
Goal Management:
- Continuous monitoring
- Automatic adjustment
- Alert generation
- Performance reporting
- SLA compliance tracking
 
Example Goals:
- Payment transactions: < 2 seconds
- Inquiries: < 1 second
- Reports: < 30 seconds
- System availability: 99.9%

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Integration Features:
- Enterprise-wide resource allocation
- Cross-system workload balancing
- Unified performance management
- Centralized policy administration
- System-wide optimization
 
Benefits:
- Consistent performance across systems
- Optimal resource utilization
- Simplified management
- Better capacity planning
- Enhanced scalability

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Resource Allocation Strategies

Resource allocation strategies ensure fair and efficient distribution of system resources among competing tasks and applications. These strategies optimize CPU time, memory, I/O, and other critical resources.

Allocation Strategies

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Summary

Workload management in CICS is essential for optimizing system performance and ensuring that critical business functions receive adequate resources. Through task prioritization, CPSM WLM features, and effective resource allocation strategies, organizations can achieve optimal performance and meet service level agreements.

The integration of CICS workload management with enterprise-wide systems provides comprehensive resource optimization and ensures consistent performance across the entire mainframe environment.