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Letting you manage the process, instead of it managing you
March 13, 2007
URL:http://www.drdobbs.com/joltawards/jolts-2007-change-and-configuration-mana/201001409
AccuRev 4.5 with AccuWorkflow
Accurev
AccuRev is back in the saddle after a three year hiatus from top Jolt honors in this category, and their latest 4.5 release clearly illustrates how impressive their leading integrated source code management and issue tracking application outshines its competitors. A fellow Jolt judge accurately distilled AccuRev's key differentiating feature from other configuration management alternatives with its ability to "link defects from the defects database to code changes." While this seems like an obvious approach to integrated application lifecycle management, AccuRev's approach is so clean and simple to visualize that it is more than likely to be used and embraced by even the most jaded development teams.
What really captured the attention and enthusiasm of the judges this year was the addition of AccuRev's AccuWorkflow. Another Jolt judge summarized AccuWorkflow best by stating, "the one part I loved was the visual capturing of the workflow and automatic state changes as it moves throughout the organization." And like the source code it monitors, even AccuRev's rule sets can be version controlled, allowing rollbacks and analysis of previously defined workflow rules that can be flexibly reemployed or morphed into hybrid sets to satisfy changing conditions of project needs.
AccuRev's GUI is uncluttered and approachable, clearly detailing the most meaningful information quickly. Every judge who saw AccuWorkflow in action was just as jolted by this connection and espoused how such a powerful addition represents a promising evolution in the configuration-management space. Combined with AccuRev's AccuBridge open API integration SDK, AccuRev's connectivity into legacy systems and broader application lifecycle management umbrellas keeps it from being pigeonholed into an effective, albeit isolated, tool for an IT subset. Fortunately, forethought places the product several steps ahead of its competitors, raising the bar of expectation for other configuration products.
--Mike Riley
AnthillPro3
Urbancode
AnthillPro covers a wide range of configuration and release management needs with an extensive and easy-to-use interface. From integration with numerous source code systems and other third party tools, to leveraging security platforms such as LDAP and Active Directory, AnthillPro allows its users to establish a robust configuration management system without adding unnecessary complexity and time. The built-in web interface automates and simplifies many common tasks that would otherwise require extensive custom coding. The interface gives a high-level view of all Builds, and also shows low-level detail. Users who already use tools such as Ant, NAnt, and Make can integrate their existing scripts. With its distributed builds, testing and notification features, AnthillPro proves itself not only as a stable Build tool, but an integral part of a comprehensive release management system for teams of all sizes and platforms.
-- Jon Kurz
Perforce SCM
Perforce Software
With each new release the folks at Perforce continue to refine one of the best choices you can make in a source-control system. Not all the features they add will have mass-market appeal, but collectively they add up to a very compelling overall solution.
When Perforce won the Jolt Award last year in the Defect Tracking, Change, and Configuration Management category, we called it reliable, scalable, and speedy. All those characteristics still apply, of course, though the latest release layers in better support for the bane of source-control users everywhere: branching and merging. We also liked the new support for subscribing to change lists via RSS, the growing list of IDEs that work with Perforce out of the box, and the continued support for web, desktop, and command-line interfaces to our source repository. The new audit trail support lets administrators pinpoint whoÕs touching which files and when. Altogether, Perforce is a solid product that continues to improve year after year.
--Robert A. DelRossi
Team Foundation Server
Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft's vision and strategy for configuration management truly stands out in Team Foundation Server (TFS). TFS is designed so that teams of all kinds can leverage familiar tools and applications such as MS Project, Sharepoint, and VisualStudio within a fully integrated platform. Developers can use built-in code check-in policies and use the information for reports, as well as associating check-ins with work-item tracking to enforce traceability of defects to code changes, and version control is built upon SQL Server 2005. TFS does an amazing job of tying development, QA, project management, and reporting services together in a way that allows all team members to gain access to the right information at the right time. Team Foundation Server crosses many categories, but at its core, TFS is all about change and configuration management.
-- Jon Kurz
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