Operator
The person who watches the running systems, responds to messages, and starts, stops and recovers work.
Also written systems operator, console operator
Operators run the systems in real time. They watch the consoles where z/OS and its subsystems report what is happening, respond to messages that need a decision, start and stop services, and act when something needs intervention at three in the morning.
Much of what was once manual is now automated, with software watching for known messages and responding without a person, but the role remains, because the situations that need judgement are exactly the ones automation cannot cover.
During the overnight batch cycle they are the ones watching progress against the window, dealing with failed jobs, and deciding whether to rerun, escalate or hold dependent work. When a service is degraded, they are usually first to know.
The work runs in shifts, since the systems do not stop, and it is closely proceduralised: most situations have a documented response, and following it precisely matters more than improvising.
It is also a common way into the industry, because it teaches you what the systems actually do under load.
Related terms
- Batch schedulerSoftware that submits production jobs automatically in the right order, at the right time, based on what has already succeeded.
- Batch windowThe period, usually overnight, in which batch work has to finish before the business needs the systems back.
- Started taskA long-running program that the system starts and leaves running, rather than a job that runs once and finishes.
- RunbookThe written procedure for operating a system or responding to a known failure, step by step.
- Production supportKeeping live systems running: diagnosing failures, fixing what broke, and getting the service back.