Patent ID: 8719825

Claim:
An apparatus for managing the timing of the execution of a scheduled job that is a batch process executed by a computer system, the apparatus comprising: a memory device coupled to a processing device having a list of scheduled jobs, execution times and notification times stored therein; and the processing device for executing the scheduled job at a prescribed execution time; wherein: the processing device, prior to the prescribed execution time, is operative to: obtain a notification time from the memory device prior to the prescribed execution time for the scheduled job; generate a job execution notification that indicates: the execution time of the scheduled job, and a tracking indicator of a number of times the job execution has been delayed; and transmit the job execution notification to a user based on the determined notification time, the notification displaying the execution time and the tracking indicator to the user; and if a reply is received in response to the job execution notification to the user, the processing device: determines if the reply includes a user-configured delay field; if the user-configured delay field is included, temporarily resets the prescribed execution time to a reset execution time based on a time value in the user-configured delay field; generates a further job execution notification at a subsequent notification time prior to the reset prescribed execution time; and if no reply is received in response to the notification to the user, executes the scheduled job at the prescribed execution time.