IBM DevOps Code ClearCase vs. OpenText AccuRev vs. Microsoft Visual SourceSafe (Discontinued)

IBM Rational ClearCase might be better suited for a smaller / simpler code base. Larger code bases really slow it down... but then again there are better alternatives out there for source control

Incentivized

Very slow and not intuitive; it would be my last choice for version control systems.The UI is a little confusing at times and seems a little outdated. It needs a lot of improvement. It is suited for small projects and fewer number of projects. But if there are huge projects and many projects to be maintained in a portfolio, its a little hard to manage.

Incentivized

I would not recommend Visual SourceSafe to anyone out there as there are so many better, more modern solutions that do what it does and much more. Visual SourceSafe should be retired in most cases.

• Rational ClearCase is excellent for handling versioning and branching. No other tool I've used has the depth that ClearCase has when it comes to handling complex branching scenarios and identifying where certain versions of particular files are within a particular configuration.
• Rational ClearCase handles parallel development of many dependent applications really well.
• The use of ClearCase Views to switch between projects and configurations is extremely convenient as opposed to the local workstation model of the competitors.

Incentivized

• One place for most recent code with history, avoid any conflict/confusion among other team/members.
• Stream/Workflow approach to control approval process betwen all the teams, which I couldn't find in other version control tools I worked.
• Bundle our code in a small group (called, Issues in Accurev) to differentiate between different projects.

Incentivized

• At this point in its lifecycle there are not many things VSS does well
• Its main strength would be its ability to be self contained on a local drive
• It is a basic Code repository

Incentivized

• Extremely buggy.
• Sometimes the repository gets locked for no reason.
• Slow.

Incentivized

• Ability to zoom in/out for stream-view. We currently have many streams/substreams and unable to view the entire workflow. Zooming in/out would benefit.
• Being a designer, I use Adobe Flash and SWF files. When updating the SWF files, Accurev does not see these files as being changed and you will be unable to promote. In order to push changes, you must totally rename the SWF file.

Incentivized

• The system stability could be improved. Often we get file corrupted errors.
• The User Interface is not modern and not user-friendly.
• Concurrent check-outs could be added, allowing more people to work on the same file at the same time.
• Add conflict resolution, files comparison, blame file, features that any modern source control program should have.

Incentivized

We will renew because it is part of our build process.

Incentivized

The current status of Visual SourceSafe is not usable. There are many things that are just so out of the date that it should be retired and not looked at any longer. If you have an existing application that is stored in it, I'd consider migrating it to a modern tool.

It's a Microsoft product so the customer support is great. The program has been around a long time so there are plenty of places on line to get assistance. Also almost any development shop you go to will have at least one developer who has used this product extensively in their career.

Incentivized

If development is centrallized to one location and your company releases hundreds of customized versions of your software per year, then ClearCase is the best tool for managing the complexity of multiple versions of customized software. If your company has globally distributed development, then I'd recommend Team Foundation Server over ClearCase. If your organization uses Agile Methodologies, then I'd recommend TFS with GIT.

Incentivized

In my view, accurev ranks very low compared to other tools I have used. Microsoft TFS is the best in the industry as of today as it's a complete ALM solution. It does code version, bug tracking, user story documentation, and has easy integration with other external tools supporting many languages. So I would definitely recommend TFS to anyone.

Incentivized

Incentivized

• Managed code versioning for many years.
• Only one person can edit code at a time - slows processing down.
• IBM is an expensive product to support.

Incentivized

• Better team coordination.
• Avoid confusion by having one place for all documentation and code.
• Better project management by having different work streams.

Incentivized

• When we started using it, it allowed us to do source code versioning and store the code in a centralized location and not locally.
• We are using it for very few projects with few developers that still maintain those applications and do not have time to merge the source code to Git.

Incentivized