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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    IBM watsonx Code Assistant Portfolio

    Score8.8 out of 10
    N/AIBM watsonx Code Assistant is a family of domain-specific AI Code Assistants & Agentic IDEs built on IBM Granite foundation models. The product portfolio provides targeted generative code recommendation, refactoring, and application modernization capabilities across enterprise domain environments, including IT automation infrastructure and mainframe enterprise systems. Note: IBM is progressively transitioning its domain-specific watsonx Code Assistant tooling into IBM Bob, a unified agentic…N/A

    Perforce P4

    Score7.6 out of 10
    N/APerforce P4 (formerly Helix Core) is the company's version control and peer code review solution. Perforce offers add-on products for code review for free, and Git support products.N/A
    Pricing
    IBM watsonx Code Assistant PortfolioPerforce P4
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    IBM watsonx Code Assistant PortfolioPerforce P4
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    IBM watsonx Code Assistant PortfolioPerforce P4
    Considered Both Products
    IBM
    No answer on this topic
    Perforce Software
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    85%
    Would buy again
    11 Answers
    86%
    Would buy again
    6 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    10 Answers
    83%
    Delivers good value for the price
    5 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    92%
    Happy with the feature set
    12 Answers
    86%
    Happy with the feature set
    6 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    89%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    8 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    80%
    Implementation went as expected
    8 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    IBM watsonx Code Assistant PortfolioPerforce P4
    Version Control Software Features
    Comparison of Version Control Software Features features of IBM watsonx Code Assistant Portfolio and Perforce P4
    Feature
    IBM watsonx Code Assistant Portfolio
    -
    Ratings
    Perforce P4
    7.9
    1 Ratings
    11% below category average
    Branching and Merging00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Version History00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Version Control Collaboration Tools00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Pull Requests00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Code Review Tools00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Project Access Control00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Automated Testing Integration00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Issue Tracking Integration00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Branch Protection00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    IBM watsonx Code Assistant PortfolioPerforce P4
    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
    Git
    Score10 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    IBM watsonx Code Assistant PortfolioPerforce P4
    Likelihood to Recommend
    6.5
    (10 ratings)
    6.5
    (15 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.6
    (5 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (3 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.6
    (3 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    IBM watsonx Code Assistant PortfolioPerforce P4
    Likelihood to Recommend
    IBM
    I would recommend for understanding your Mainframe components not for the GenAI piece involved from just my experience. The explanations were not up to the quality we wanted but its deterministic side provided a lot of value for different members of my team. The visuals would be great. I am not sure where it currently stands
    Incentivized
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    Perforce Software
    While Perforce Helix is the best version control software out there, it can also be used to track your documentation, training videos and materials, and requirements. If you have strict compliance requirements, it can be used to ensure that those requirements are satisfied. Perforce Helix is incredibly flexible and can meet the needs of individual users as well as companies with thousands of users.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    IBM
    • It can automatically revamp specific parts of the COBOL code and very useful when we want to maintain the existing codebase but improve its structure. I can highlight a block of COBOL code and use Watsonx Assistant to suggest ways to simplify and optimize it.
    • Legacy codes, mostly written in COBOL, are cryptic and difficult to understand. Watsonx Assistant analyzes the code and provides insights into its functionalities and dependencies. A great help when working on older applications where understanding the codebase is crucial.
    • A step-by-step approach to modernize our applications slowly and steadily, so that we can control the process better. I don't have to change everything at once. Instead, I can focus on specific COBOL modules and automatically convert them to Java.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Perforce Software
    • The branching mechanisms in Perforce allow for an enormous codebase to be duplicated into release versions weekly with little impact upon things such as the speed of queries against the version control.
    • Action triggers permit such things as automated builds of software versions, dynamic messaging when issues are identified either within or prior to a build process, and much more.
    • Locking provides the ability to prevent modifications of stable, tested versions in order to ensure validity when they are released.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    IBM
    • IDE integration is not always optimal
    • I wish it could it could generate the code of an entire WEB site based on user specifications
    • I with there was a functionality to generate code based on design documents such as Sequence Diagrams, Database Architecture etc.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Perforce Software
    • Perforce tends to feel backwards in how it approaches certain tasks, like branching and integrating - even once you figure out how it wants you to perform these tasks, you will likely forget when it comes around to the next time you need to do them again.
    • Perforce has a higher price tag, comparatively.
    • Perforce make some tasks very easy, and yet other tasks very difficult - it doesn't always seem to have found its target user's proficiency.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Perforce Software
    We are fully committed to our use of Perforce. It works well within our organization and our desire to share our code base with our customers. Their support staff are responsive, inquisitive, and eager to improve their software. I feel like we have a direct line to their design/feature team as they often solicit our feedback.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Perforce Software
    With Perforce Helix, you can use it via the command line, via P4V, or any of the other APIs included with the product. It is extremely easy for new users to get up and running. Users of Perforce Helix only have to pull in the files of interest to them. Also, Perforce is very easy to script and integrate into your CI/CD pipeline. Streams allows you to have pinpoint control of your workflow, and P4Search is the absolute best--I wish Perforce (the company) would talk more about this. It is absolutely fabulous!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Perforce Software
    In our large environment, Perforce is rarely "down". We have regular maintenance windows and from time to time Perforce can feel a little slow, but its always available. Tech support has always worked with our engineers and IT department to make sure that any real performance or stability issues are addressed quickly.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Perforce Software
    I had two representatives from Perforce contact me after downloading it but never responded when I had questions. I also had a difficult time finding good training material for getting started. There is a lot of available support material when running into issues, though, because of how many large companies use it.
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Perforce Software
    This rating is related to setting up an environment from an existing Perforce repository. Initial setup of Perforce as the repository for the company was done by a separate team long prior to my inception.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    IBM
    Security is very important in the mainframe world. At Watsonx, we work in the trusted Z environment, which has strong security rules, stricter than those of other cloud-based solutions. My domain is primarily mainframe modernization and Watsonx Code Assistant for Z is specifically used to understand and work with COBOL, the language used majorly in mainframe environments, not any general-purpose language that used in various platforms. It understands the nuances of COBOL and Assembler specific to the Z environment, something crucial for my work.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Perforce Software
    Git is great, I love Git. But it's not great for dealing with binary assets, even when using Git LFS. Locking is not as simple as on perforce. Git presents some problems on using for non-tech people it can get overwhelming and tech people have to come by and help.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    IBM
    • While manual review and adjustments are still needed, it's a 50-70% reduction in manual coding. Think about it - a project estimated to take a year is done in 4-6 months.
    • We've been able to introduce new features and improvements more quickly by updating our technology faster. One relevant example is we recently released an important update to our main product 45 days earlier than planned.
    • It has been a smart move and it's really paid off for our company. We've cut down a lot of time we used to spend doing things manually. We now spend our resources more wisely, work faster and finish projects sooner and as a result, we've reduced our development costs by 25%.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Perforce Software
    • Decreased our implementation costs by allowing versioning and back out of customizations made in the field.
    • saves developers time through automation of changes between branches - they think less of the plumbing and have more time to write code.
    • Downside is training/managing expectations of new developers who come in assuming they will use Git.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    IBM watsonx Code Assistant Portfolio Screenshots

    Screenshot of Flexibility to deploy large language model either on-premises or as-a-service