CASE STUDY
Virginia DMV Replaces ActiveBatch with JAMS Scheduler in Two Weeks
Virginia DMV had fifteen days from its first conversation with JAMS to a signed purchase order, with less than a month left on its ActiveBatch contract. The team moved more than eighty production jobs to JAMS Scheduler and cut over within roughly two weeks.
15 days
First conversation to purchase order
80+
Production jobs moved
2 weeks
Kickoff to production cutover
Public Sector
North America>United States
Windows Server, SQL Server 2019, Oracle, Linux, mainframe and iSeries interfaces, Azure (planned)
SQL Server, Oracle, managed file transfer platform, .NET, PowerShell
File Transfers, Database/Stored Procedures, Email and Document Distribution, Log and Folder Maintenance
Replaced
ActiveBatch
Purchased Through
ThunderCat Technology
About the Company
The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles runs a schedule that moves data between DMV and the rest of state government, behind the transactions the public sees. More than eighty jobs carry work the agency cannot skip: batch file exchanges with other state agencies, .NET executables and PowerShell scripts, stored procedures and connections into SQL Server and Oracle, automated email and document distribution, and log file and folder maintenance. Those jobs run across Windows Server, SQL Server 2019, Linux, a managed file transfer platform, and interfaces into mainframe and iSeries systems. DMV also plans to schedule batch work in Azure as it retires mainframe workloads, which ruled out any platform built only for the environment as it stands today.
The Challenges
DMV had run ActiveBatch for years and considered it dependable. The product was not what sent the team looking. According to the DMV team, the renewal that followed a change of ownership at the vendor came back with a price increase and a two-year commitment attached. The existing agreement had under thirty days left to run because the vendor delayed providing an updated quote for months. Replacing the scheduler behind daily batch operations in under thirty days is not a project anyone chooses. DMV chose it over the renewal.
The Solution
A demonstration, an installation of JAMS Scheduler inside the DMV environment, then a working session with the JAMS Director of Services to settle the approach. Two paths were available: automated conversion of the existing job definitions, or a rebuild alongside JAMS engineers. DMV kept both open until the team saw its own jobs in the tool. The first installation attempt stalled on SQL Server database permissions. The migration work also had to fit around everything else the team was already carrying, on a deadline set by a contract nobody there had negotiated. DMV went ahead anyway. Fifteen days after the first conversation, the purchase order was issued.
The Benefits
The migration finished in roughly two weeks, inside the window the expiring contract allowed. Nothing was lost in the move, and nothing has been left open since. Asked what made the difference, the DMV team pointed at support rather than features. They described the JAMS engineer assigned to them as someone who answered technical questions directly instead of routing them onward.
What does Virginia DMV get with JAMS?
More than eighty production jobs moved off ActiveBatch and onto JAMS Scheduler in roughly two weeks
Purchase order issued fifteen days after the first conversation, ahead of a contract deadline neither side controlled
Zero jobs lost in the migration, and nothing left open since cutover
A single schedule spanning Windows Server, SQL Server 2019, Oracle, Linux, and mainframe/iSeries interfaces
Room to add Azure batch scheduling as DMV retires mainframe workloads
Direct engineer support through the migration, without routing through tiers (per DMV team)
