The concept of '''Workload Automation''' is an evolution of traditional [[job scheduler]]s which needed to react to the dynamic demands of IT. Workload automation needs to be able to coordinate—in real-time—a varied set of workload types with complex dependencies across a broad spectrum of operating systems and application platforms.
A scheduling model based only upon calendar events is not sufficient to meet the demands of today’s automated data centers. The requirement for batch submission of workloads driven by date/time dependencies still exists, but on-demand IT processing requirements have expanded job submission triggers far beyond the time dimension.
'''Workload Automation''' solutions should provide: a [[service-oriented architecture]] (SOA); integration capabilities at the application services level for web services and [[Java EE]]-based applications; a service-level orientation for managing workloads and finally, a [[critical path analysis]] and reporting capabilities.
