COBOL batch support fix cut night calls and upset an overtime earner

A 1990s analyst assigned to COBOL batch support at an operator of large IBM computer centers reduced nightly callouts by adding a pre-process step to the batch flow, according to The Register’s On Call column. The change addressed a repeat data-formatting problem in overnight jobs, but it also drew anger from a colleague who had depended on regular overtime pay.

The Register identified the reader by the pseudonym “Lionel.” He said he had been hired as an analyst on a new team, with his main remit focused on developing new or improved processes to support business changes. The role also included an overnight support rota covering batch processing, particularly when jobs failed because input files from different sources contained errors.

Lionel’s first week in the job put him on that rota immediately. He told The Register he was called every night, and each incident had the same cause: incoming data needed to be reformatted before the overnight COBOL processing could proceed.

The fix itself was not technically difficult. Lionel said he used a file editor to correct the data, dialing in remotely to do the work. The operational cost was the timing: slow remote access in the early hours, repeated sleep disruption, and the effect on a household with a young family.

What was the COBOL batch support problem?

The recurring issue was malformed or wrongly formatted input data arriving from various sources before overnight COBOL batch jobs ran. Lionel’s answer was to specify, test and implement a pre-process program that reformatted the data before it reached the main batch flow.

That distinction matters for support teams. A manual file edit clears one incident; a pre-process step removes the same class of incident from the on-call queue if the failure mode is predictable enough. Lionel’s account suggests this was a repeated operational defect rather than an exceptional outage.

The Register said Lionel expected the change to solve the business problem and let him sleep through the night. It did not land that way with everyone on the team. One colleague, Lionel said, told him directly that he was unhappy because the overnight calls had produced regular overtime payments.

Lionel did not reverse course. He told The Register he kept looking for permanent fixes to other overnight support problems.

The episode is a small 1990s operations story, but it is familiar to anyone who has worked around legacy systems, batch windows and incentives that reward manual recovery more than prevention. The company name, the exact system configuration, the number of staff on the rota and any financial impact from the automation were not disclosed.

This story draws on original reporting from The Register.