Batch processing is a pervasive workload pattern, expressed by a distinct application organization and
execution model. It is found across virtually every industry, applied to such tasks as statement
generation, bank postings, risk evaluation, credit score calculation, inventory management, portfolio
optimization, and on and on. Nearly any bulk processing task from any business sector is a candidate for
batch processing.
Batch processing is typified by bulk-oriented, non-interactive, background execution. Frequently long-
running, it may be data or computationally intensive, execute sequentially or in parallel, and may be
initiated through various invocation models, including ad hoc, scheduled, and on-demand.
Batch applications have common requirements, including logging, checkpointing, and parallelization.
Batch workloads have common requirements, especially operational control, which allow for initiation
of, and interaction with, batch instances; such interactions include stop and restart.