Perforce Software Announces Free, Cloud-Based Document Collaboration Service

Key Points

• Commons Cloud from Perforce lets anyone set up an online team of 20 in just minutes, for free. Users can join as many teams as they like.
• Commons Cloud is the only collaboration solution that maintains a complete, permanent and easily accessible record of every edit, version, and comment about every file.
• The File Valet feature automates file management, merge and compare capabilities, enabling concurrent editing capability without conflict.

Alameda, Calif. (October 1, 2013) – Perforce Software today announced a free cloud-based document collaboration solution. Commons Cloud™ combines the simplicity of modern social applications with the version management capabilities of advanced software development tools. In minutes, anyone can create a hosted team of up to 20 participants to iterate on and evolve any type of file. There's no limit to the number of teams you can join.

Ideal for distributed teams who work in parallel on highly iterative digital assets, Commons Cloud eliminates the manual effort of searching for the right file, resolving conflicts among file versions and merging edits to a document. The service was designed for the 83 percent of knowledge workers that a recent survey by Harris Interactive found were still losing time to file versioning issues, despite using a document management system or file sharing service.

With Commons Cloud, users can simply drag a file anywhere into system and the File Valet stores the file to the right place, notifies you of potential conflicts and recommends actions. Backed by the powerful versioning engine used by the world's largest and most innovative software companies, Commons maintains an indelible record of all files, versions and comments. You can see at a glance who did what, when and why, bringing complete traceability to organizations that require it.

"One of the best things about Commons is that it provides all users with a complete and permanent history of every file, which makes everyone worry less about losing their work," said Scott Gilliland, Perforce administrator and technical specialist at Altair Engineering, Inc. "Another feature we enjoy is the 'File Valet.' It makes collaboration easy by letting teams across business functions work on the same files in parallel as it automatically merges all the changes."

The Benefits of Commons Cloud

• Easy file management—you'll never have to search for the right file again
• Automated compare and merge capabilities for Microsoft Word and PowerPoint files
• Complete and permanent record of all files, edits and comments for traceability and transparency
• Follow the evolution of content by receiving notifications anytime a file is modified or commented on

"Documents evolve so quickly that most teams are hard pressed to keep pace," said Christopher Seiwald, founder and CEO of Perforce. "Knowledge workers lose time everyday searching for the right file, manually resolving conflicting versions and trying to piece together the contributions from colleagues. We created Commons Cloud to extend the power of enterprise version management to teams that are working on things like PowerPoint files, artwork and Microsoft Word documents. It's a flexible and easy-to-use way for all types of knowledge workers to collaborate, but it makes no compromises to enterprise needs for compliance."

Availability

Commons Cloud is now available for free at commons.perforce.net. It takes just minutes to set up a team and begin collaborating.