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Accenture and Interface21 will use the annual JavaOne show in San Francisco on May 8 to announce Spring Batch, an open-source framework for the development of enterprise batch applications.
Spring Batch is a lightweight, comprehensive batch framework designed to enable the development of robust batch applications vital to the daily operations of enterprise systems.
It is an open-source project that builds on and extends the Spring Framework programming model for enterprise Java, Paul Daugherty, Accentures chief architect, said.
Batch processing is used to process billions of transactions every day for enterprises in areas such as financial accruals, payment generation and correspondence processing.
“Batch jobs are part of most IT projects, and Spring Batch is the only open-source framework that provides a robust, enterprise-scale solution. The lack of a standard architecture has led many projects to create their own custom architecture at significant development and maintenance costs,” the newly created Spring Batch Web site states.
Accenture, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, will provide code and ongoing support as part of the development community to ensure the success of Spring Batch.
“Accenture is contributing previously proprietary batch processing architecture frameworks based on decades worth of experience in building batch architectures with the last several generations of platforms—COBOL/Mainframe, C++/Unix, and now Java/anywhere—to the Spring Batch project, along with committer resources to drive support, enhancements, and the future roadmap,” the Web site says.
The collaborative effort between Accenture and Interface21, a provider of open-source software for mission-critical enterprise applications, aims to promote the standardization of the software processing approaches, frameworks and tools that can be consistently leveraged by enterprise users when creating batch applications, the site says.
Accenture and Interface21 decided to collaborate on the project, as they saw a lack of focus on reusable architecture frameworks to accommodate Java-based batch processing needs, Accentures Daugherty said.
“The lack of standard, reusable batch architectures has resulted in the proliferation of many one-off, in-house solutions developed across our clients IT functions. Companies and government agencies desiring to deliver standard, proven solutions to their enterprise IT environments will benefit from Spring Batch,” he said.
“Accenture has adopted the Spring Framework as part of its standard delivery architectures and is looking forward to enhancing Spring Batch while also continuing to expand the Spring portfolio,” Daugherty said.
“As a result, we expect our clients to benefit from higher-quality software, faster market adoption, and greater levels of innovation and support. By working with Interface21 and the open-source community, we are continuing to incorporate their experience, insight and ideas,” he said.
Rod Johnson, founder of the Spring Framework and CEO of Interface21, said he is pleased to be working with Accenture, and the significant hands-on industry and technical experience it brings in implementing batch architectures, to ensure the creation of high-quality, market-relevant software.
“Bringing together the deep technical experience of Interface21 and Springs proven programming model with the extensive systems integration delivery experiences of Accenture marks a powerful partnership to fill an important gap in enterprise Java,” he said.
Once the framework is released it can be used immediately to simplify batch optimizations and automatic retries, while a partitioned batch execution container is also being developed that will provide alternate scaling solutions, the Web site says.
Spring Batchs capabilities include enabling high-volume bulk processing of business transactions and data without the intervention of end users; structuring Java-based business logic to improve the efficiency of software development and application processing; and allowing developers to focus on business logic, instead of the technical approach and details required for processing large volumes of information, Johnson said.
It also helps reduce the risks associated with performance and scalability of batch processing application software through consistent use of a common batch architecture framework; incorporates different interaction styles—ranging from scheduled-based program executions to message-based processing; and leverages the well-established development community tied to the Spring Framework, he said.