diff --git a/webservices/cron.php b/webservices/cron.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..387a09611d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/webservices/cron.php
@@ -0,0 +1,170 @@
+<?php
+// Copyright (C) 2010 Combodo SARL
+//
+//   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+//   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+//   the Free Software Foundation; version 3 of the License.
+//
+//   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+//   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+//   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+//   GNU General Public License for more details.
+//
+//   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+//   along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+//   Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
+/**
+ * Heart beat of the application (process asynchron tasks such as broadcasting email)
+ *
+ * @author      Erwan Taloc <erwan.taloc@combodo.com>
+ * @author      Romain Quetiez <romain.quetiez@combodo.com>
+ * @author      Denis Flaven <denis.flaven@combodo.com>
+ * @license     http://www.opensource.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html LGPL
+ */
+
+require_once('../approot.inc.php');
+require_once(APPROOT.'/application/application.inc.php');
+require_once(APPROOT.'/application/nicewebpage.class.inc.php');
+require_once(APPROOT.'/application/webpage.class.inc.php');
+require_once(APPROOT.'/application/clipage.class.inc.php');
+
+require_once(APPROOT.'/application/startup.inc.php');
+
+
+function CronExec($oP, $aBackgroundProcesses, $bVerbose)
+{
+	$iStarted = time();
+	$iMaxDuration = MetaModel::GetConfig()->Get('cron_max_execution_time');
+	$iTimeLimit = $iStarted + $iMaxDuration;
+	
+	if ($bVerbose)
+	{
+		$oP->p("Planned duration = $iMaxDuration seconds");
+	}
+
+	$iCronSleep = MetaModel::GetConfig()->Get('cron_sleep');
+	
+	while (time() < $iTimeLimit)
+	{
+		foreach ($aBackgroundProcesses as $oBackgroundProcess)
+		{
+			if ($bVerbose)
+			{
+				$oP->p("Processing asynchronous task: ".get_class($oBackgroundProcess));
+			}
+			$sMessage = $oBackgroundProcess->Process($iTimeLimit);
+			if ($bVerbose && !empty($sMessage))
+			{
+				$oP->p("Returned: $sMessage");
+			}
+		}
+		if ($bVerbose)
+		{
+			$oP->p("Sleeping");
+		}
+		sleep($iCronSleep);
+	}
+	if ($bVerbose)
+	{
+		$oP->p("Reached normal execution time limit (exceeded by ".(time()-$iTimeLimit)."s)");
+	}
+}
+
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+//
+// Main
+//
+
+if (utils::IsModeCLI())
+{
+	$oP = new CLIPage("iTop - Bulk import");
+
+	// Next steps:
+	//   specific arguments: 'csvfile'
+	//   
+	$sAuthUser = ReadMandatoryParam($oP, 'auth_user');
+	$sAuthPwd = ReadMandatoryParam($oP, 'auth_pwd');
+	if (UserRights::CheckCredentials($sAuthUser, $sAuthPwd))
+	{
+		UserRights::Login($sAuthUser); // Login & set the user's language
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		$oP->p("Access restricted or wrong credentials ('$sAuthUser')");
+		exit;
+	}
+}
+else
+{
+	$_SESSION['login_mode'] = 'basic';
+	require_once(APPROOT.'/application/loginwebpage.class.inc.php');
+	LoginWebPage::DoLogin(); // Check user rights and prompt if needed
+
+	$oP = new WebPage("iTop - CRON");
+}
+
+
+// Enumerate classes implementing BackgroundProcess
+//
+$aBackgroundProcesses = array();
+foreach(get_declared_classes() as $sPHPClass)
+{
+	$oRefClass = new ReflectionClass($sPHPClass);
+	$oExtensionInstance = null;
+	if ($oRefClass->implementsInterface('iBackgroundProcess'))
+	{
+		if (is_null($oExtensionInstance))
+		{
+			$oExecInstance = new $sPHPClass;
+		}
+		$aBackgroundProcesses[] = $oExecInstance;
+	}
+}
+
+
+$bVerbose = utils::ReadParam('verbose', false);
+
+if ($bVerbose)
+{
+	$aDisplayProcesses = array();
+	foreach ($aBackgroundProcesses as $oExecInstance)
+	{
+		$aDisplayProcesses[] = get_class($oExecInstance);
+	}
+	$sDisplayProcesses = implode(', ', $aDisplayProcesses);
+	$oP->p("Background processes: ".$sDisplayProcesses);
+}
+
+$sLockName = 'itop.cron.php';
+
+$oP->p("Starting: ".time());
+$res = CMDBSource::QueryToScalar("SELECT GET_LOCK('$sLockName', 1)");// timeout = 1 second (see also IS_FREE_LOCK)
+if (is_null($res))
+{
+	// TODO - Log ?
+	$oP->p("ERROR: Failed to acquire the lock '$sLockName'");
+}
+elseif ($res === '1')
+{
+	// The current session holds the lock
+	try
+	{
+		CronExec($oP, $aBackgroundProcesses, $bVerbose);
+	}
+	catch(Exception $e)
+	{
+		// TODO - Log ?
+	   $oP->p("ERROR:".$e->GetMessage());
+	}
+	$res = CMDBSource::QueryToScalar("SELECT RELEASE_LOCK('$sLockName')");
+}
+else
+{
+	// Lock already held by another session
+	// Exit silently
+	$oP->p("Already running...");
+}
+$oP->p("Exiting: ".time());
+
+$oP->Output();
+?>