Perforce Introduces Helix GitSwarm: Flexible Git Ecosystem Mirrored to a Powerful Mainline Repository

ALAMEDA, Calif. (October 6, 2015) — Perforce Software today announced extended support for multiple workflows with the general availability of Helix GitSwarm, a complete Git ecosystem integrated with Perforce Helix. Based on the popular GitLab collaboration suite, GitSwarm fosters developer productivity through Git repo management, a pull-request workflow, issue tracking and an integrated wiki.

With GitSwarm, Perforce Helix integrates Git workflow used by development teams with mainline development preferred by DevOps teams responsible for releasing products quickly.

GitSwarm developers use “narrow cloning” from a Helix mainline to manage the distribution of intellectual property through Git. At the same time, mirrored branches of code maintained in the Helix Versioning Engine protect enterprise IP from potential theft and loss that can take place with unmanaged code distribution.

By integrating Git workflow with a centralized workflow, Perforce Helix addresses the limitations of native Git and other Git management solutions in the enterprise. It meets the scalability required by DevOps practices and supports enterprise-class digital asset management, global distribution, high performance at petabyte scale, quality, security, process management and governance.

"Helix GitSwarm allows developers to collaborate in their preferred workflow," said Sytse Sijbrandij, CEO of GitLab. "Backed by the scalability of the Helix mainline repository and the collaboration features of GitLab, GitSwarm is a uniquely powerful Git-powered enterprise platform."

“Many of our developers want to use Git, but for the good of the larger enterprise, we need a scalable mainline repository that supports all the automation we’ve built into our product delivery systems,” said Jason Leonard, Build & Services software engineer at Citrix. “GitSwarm lets our developers work the way they want to while also meeting our needs for visibility, security and scalability.”

According to Gartner, “Enterprise-grade management of Git that offers important aspects of a DVCS — good merging, the ability to work offline and good collaboration — along with the security and central repository of a CVCS, will resolve most remaining concerns about the use of the DVCS model.”1

Helix GitSwarm is available free of charge as part of Perforce Helix. Both Perforce Helix and Helix GitSwarm are free for up to 20 users under the Perforce 20/20 Program. GitSwarm Enterprise Edition, based on GitLab Enterprise Edition, is also available to offer additional security, project management and integration options.

“Popular Git repo hosting services are great for small open source projects but fall short when a company needs to scale, protect their IP, or work with more than plain text files,” said Christopher Hoover, vice president of product strategy at Perforce. “With the addition of GitSwarm to our Helix platform, we’ve delivered a single-vendor, best-of-both-worlds solution that understands and respects development teams as well as the business, digital asset and security needs of a large enterprise.”

Helix GitSwarm is available immediately.

In related news, Perforce today announced a distribution agreement with pioneering Git client provider fournova (see “ Perforce Teams with Leading Git Client Developer fournova”).

1 Market Guide for Software Change and Configuration Management Software, Jim Duggan, Joachim Herschmann, 26 August 2015