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IBM Rational ClearQuest vs. Microsoft Visual SourceSafe (Discontinued)

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    IBM Rational ClearQuest

    Score7 out of 10
    N/AA customizable database workflow application development and production system that provides better visibility and control. IBM Rational ClearQuest is change management software that helps improve developer productivity while accommodating the methodologies, processes and tools that best fit the project and the people on the team. It provides tools and processes used to maintain control of changes while catering to the diverse needs of the developer.N/A

    Microsoft Visual SourceSafe (Discontinued)

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AVisual SourceSafe is a discontinued source control software offering, from Microsoft.N/A
    Pricing
    IBM Rational ClearQuestMicrosoft Visual SourceSafe (Discontinued)
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    IBM Rational ClearQuestMicrosoft Visual SourceSafe (Discontinued)
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Best Alternatives
    IBM Rational ClearQuestMicrosoft Visual SourceSafe (Discontinued)
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    GitHub
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    No answers on this topic
    Git
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    Perforce P4
    Score7.5 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    IBM Rational ClearQuestMicrosoft Visual SourceSafe (Discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    4.0
    (6 ratings)
    1.0
    (4 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    3.8
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    4.2
    (2 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    IBM Rational ClearQuestMicrosoft Visual SourceSafe (Discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    IBM
    If you are familiar with IBM Rational Suite products, RequisitePro will add up due to the synergy between other components. Beyond that, if your business is not structured to an adequate development methodology or lacks the degree of maturity or necessary resources, probably RequisitePro does not add much value. If you work with developers in the requirements analysis, they probably prefer to use an SVN repository.
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    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.
    Read full review
    Pros
    IBM
    • Capability to query bugs on multiple criteria and export it to csv for triages.
    • Simple and intuitive user experience and clearly planned defect life cycle
    • There are other features like assigning the defect to pull request, clearly explaining defect by attaching screenshots, detailed description etc
    • If you are using other IBM tools for requirements documentation, this tool integrates very well
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    • 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
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    Cons
    IBM
    • Performance can be an issue. Make certain the server is sized properly
    • There is a large difference in capability of the Thick Client Version compared with the web based version. Make certain each job function has proper access to be able to do what is required of them.
    • Learning curve is not too steep, but would suggest having someone with experience setup the repository. Highly suggest getting a contractor to assist to get the repository up and running.
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    • 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
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    Likelihood to Renew
    IBM
    Most likely as it's one of the powerful tools in the organization. We needed this tool to track all the process related documentation and also to capture signatures.
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    IBM
    Please keep in mind that this all has to do with you you customize the user interface. It becomes very easy to house all of your requirements, but it may and can make life difficult for you if you do not think ahead of how you want the app to work and house your data
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    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.
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    IBM
    IBM has good support and knowledge base. With the wealth of information on their site and the support desk, we were able to quickly resolve issues. It is smart to build up a COE and a group that manages the software otherwise it is quick to be able to lose the knowledge as team members are assigned different duties
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    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
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    Implementation Rating
    IBM
    It was pretty simple.
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    IBM
    IBM clearquest would the BEST option if you are looking for managing change requests, managing project workflows, generating reports on status of requests. The reason being: cost, cost and cost. It almost handles everything that you would need for your project including bug tracking unless you want something really fancy (like HP QC) with a higher cost that supports a wide variety of needs which you might need to evaluate based on your project needs. For example, if you would be really making use of all those additional features provided by HP Quality Center. To be honest it depends on your project size, the skills of team members and of course budget!
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    IBM
    • IBM Rational ClearQuest has provided a workflow that works without unique software methodology. As a result we deliver complete software products to our clients in a 6 to 8 week development time frame.
    • As a result of our highly customized implementation, we have 8 resources supporting IBM Rational ClearQuest. Three of the resources are full time configuration management staff that administer and support the tool set and the other 5 are from the testing group that handle ClearQuest user support issues in addition to their testing duties.
    Incentivized
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    Discontinued Products
    • 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
    Read full review
    ScreenShots