Top 10 Benefits of Perforce

1

Proven SCM Solution

Perforce is a proven SCM solution for your valuable code and digital assets. With twelve years of product evolution, Perforce is trusted by over 4,800 customers employing more than 280,000 users.

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Founded in 1995, Perforce Software has maintained a singular focus on Software Configuration Management (SCM) that has enabled the Perforce SCM system to evolve into a proven best-of-breed solution. Our longevity in the industry means you will readily find related resources, including many leading partners for Application Lifecycle Management components.

Perforce Software is headquartered in Alameda, Calif., with international operations in Europe, Japan, and Australia. In addition to application software companies, Perforce customers represent a broad range of industries including game development, electronics, health care, and financial services.

2

Unlimited Scalability

A high performance architecture scales with the growth of your organization from two users to 8,000 and more. Perforce supports sites with millions of changes and terabytes of versioned data.

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Perforce Server

Perforce is built on a data-centric model; through the use of a metadata database, the Perforce Server keeps track of what files you (and other users) are working on at all times, eliminating unnecessary network traffic. By relying on the file services of the native operating system, file depots that are many terabytes in size can be supported and are currently in use by Perforce customers today.

Weighing in at only just over a megabyte, the Perforce Server also places minimal load on the server machine's CPU, RAM, and disk resources. Any combination of client and server platforms can be deployed and they all run natively to ensure maximum performance and flexibility in your environment. Perforce's software scales linearly with hardware capacity; a single server installation can support thousands of users.

3

Fast SCM Operations

Perforce server and client programs communicate over a highly-tuned streaming message protocol, so check-outs and check-ins are fast. Users won't get frustrated and bypass your development process.

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Perforce uses minimal proprietary operations while taking advantage of the native performance capabilities of different platforms. This ensures fast and stable SCM operations in any environment. You can find benchmarks in our SCM comparisons.

Client files are stored on the user's machine; no network access is needed for day to day user activity such as editing or compiling. It takes roughly the same amount of time to retrieve files from the repository to your desktop as it would take to use FTP to copy files without an SCM system. Remote users enjoy fast performance with the use of the Perforce Proxy to cache files close to their development center.

Fast operations coupled with the ability to automate workflow to your specific environment means shorter development cycles. The command-line client provides concise command names with easy-to-invoke help for associated flags. Operations such as continuous integrations and nightly builds can be automated in your choice of scripting languages including Perl, Python, or Ruby.

4

Full-Featured Cross-platform Graphical Interfaces

With a native cross-platform graphical interface and numerous IDE integrations, Perforce supports the way you're used to working.

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P4V Revision History

The Perforce Visual Client, P4V, runs natively on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X platforms. All users have a common interface offering immediate access to submitted and pending changelists, graphical representations of branch histories, as well as powerful diff and merge utilities.

Training costs are reduced because the familiar GUI operations enable rapid tool adoption for new users. First-timers can collaborate with all other users instantly and do productive work within the first hour of learning Perforce on the job.

Perforce also offers a Web interface, a command-line interface, and integrations with industry-leading IDEs. In addition, users can version their work from within the Microsoft Office application suite as well as leading graphical development tools such as Photoshop and Maya.

All client interfaces, IDE integrations, and plug-ins are included as part of the Perforce suite.

5

Distributed Development

Remote users will experience quick response times and have real-time access to project activity and status information.

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Perforce Proxy

Offsite developers behind slow network connections will spend less time waiting for commonly used files. Updated versions of a file are copied only once from the central server and stored closer to remote users, so low bandwidth connections are not congested when moving multiple copies of the same files.

Global collaboration is seamless since all users have access to all versions of every file as well as the current status of all development projects from the central server. Additionally, valuable digital assets are securely backed up from one protected location.

The Perforce Proxy provides file caching to remote sites with no additional license fee. Any number of proxies can be deployed, are invisible to end users, and require virtually no administration.

6

Integration with Best-of-Breed ALM Solutions

An open architecture supports integrations with your preferred IDEs and a wide variety of Application Lifecycle Management tools.

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As a developer, you can version files in Perforce from the comfort and familiarity of your favorite IDEs, including Microsoft Visual Studio, Eclipse, and many others.

Your development team can select the build, bug tracking, and code review tools that best support your custom workflow and integrate them with Perforce for file versioning. Process steps that require finer granularity can be implemented by using pre- and post-submit triggers to invoke custom scripts.

Digital artists and other content creators can also version their work in the same repository directly from graphical applications or the Microsoft Office Suite. Because integrations are an integral part of Perforce, you'll never pay extra to integrate Perforce with your tools of choice.

7

Easy Administration

Regardless of the number of servers and platforms, Perforce makes administration easy through a drag and drop administration tool and a highly scriptable command-line client.

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One person can easily set up and maintain a Perforce deployment supporting 1,000 or more users. Perforce’s self-contained SCM system frees you from mounting dedicated disk volumes, configuring file systems, or worrying about third-party licenses. Valuable engineering talent can be devoted to supporting the business of developing software, games, and hardware and firmware.

An intuitive drag-and-drop GUI lets administrators visualize and modify user permissions quickly. A reliable backup mechanism keeps your data safe and it can be automated to suit your schedule. Server upgrade installations and any license changes typically take 10 minutes or less. All technical documentation is available on our website and techical support is available by email and phone.

8

Flexible, Fast, and Intuitive Branch and Merge Capability

Perforce's unique Inter-File Branching system simplifies branch and merge operations that retain all integration history.

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Perforce's Inter-File Branching system mimics the natural style in which users would create branches in the absence of an SCM system. Merging content from Branch one set of files to another can be handled automatically by Perforce, or manually by the developer.

You can cherry pick the exact code you want to move. If you have some changes in one set of files that are not intended for another, you can tell Perforce to ignore them during a merge. Perforce Visual Merge ToolPerforce's Visual Merge and Folder Diff feature can control what gets merged by selecting folders, dates, labels, or individual changelists.

Perforce keeps track of all branches and merges so you prevent previously merged content from being unintentionally re-merged. You can instantly visualize what code has been propagated through the entire tree, including all file branch points, edits, and merges. Perforce also lets you attach change requests to sets of files so that you can answer the age-old question "Is that bug fixed in this release?"

9

Straightforward Licensing and Pricing

A published price list, with built-in tiered discounts and no hidden costs makes for a transparent and straightforward sales experience. You only buy what you need when you need it.

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Perforce is licensed on a "per human user" basis. All software components are included and there are no hidden extra charges. The number of workspaces is unlimited and you can log in to the server from as many places as you require.

You have every opportunity to get comfortable with Perforce before making a purchasing decision. We offer a non-expiring two-user free version, and you don't need to fill out any forms to download it from our site. We also offer a 45-day evaluation license for as many users as you request. Free technical support is available while you evaluate.

The price list for Perforce is always published on our site. Everyone can take advantage of the same tiered discounts.

10

World-class Technical Support

Our world-class technical support organization is known and respected for its expertise and rapid resolution of even the most complex customer issues.

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P4 Help

The response time is typically less than two hours during business hours and urgent requests are treated as urgent. You will deal directly with a technical support engineer, not with an automated attendant or call dispatcher. There are no limits on how many requests you can make.

Self-service support is always available online. Extensive system documentation combined with an online knowledge base and an active user mailing list can be accessed with no registration required.

Our support staff is well respected in the software industry and knowledgeable in areas ranging from enterprise level technical issues as well as SCM best practices. Most cases are resolved by one support engineer to ensure maximum continuity. If you choose to perform an evaluation of Perforce, you will have an opportunity to work with our support team as well as the system before making your decision.