My new, favorite CM tool

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I recently started looking into Seapine’s Surround SCM as a potential solution to our Software Configuration Management problems at work. Specifically, we were looking for a good suite of tools that provide state-of-the-art source code and document control, and does so with an interface that’s easy enough non-technical people to use. Oh, and it has to be cross platform, working on Linux, OS/X and Windows, and provide a reasonable web or WebDAV interface.

Surround SCM is the only tool that I’ve been able to find meeting these requirements. After downloading the evaluation, I was already impressed. Installing was a breeze on both the server and the client; within a few minutes, I was checking documents into a source control system. The user interface is clean, intuitive and well designed; my initial concern that it’s seemingly oversimplified application was hiding limited capability was quickly dispelled. Surround SCM is an outstanding configuration management tool. In fact, it offers capabilities usually reserved for higher end (and hideously complicated) tools such as Clear Case:

Surround SCM’s robust feature set includes bulk field changes, thumbnail image support, changelists and atomic transactions, LDAP and Active Directory support, shadow folders, defect linking, hyperlink access to files and branches, integration with a variety of IDEs and build tools, WebDAV support, and more. Team members can be given access to specific projects and versions of files. Automatic email notifications keep the team informed of changes when they occur.

But, the feature list goes on. It also supports workflow management features that allow tracking of assets beyond a simple “checked in” status, enabling you to model your organization’s change processes and ensure your team follows them every time a file is added or change is made.

Surround SCM has a number of complementary products supporting testing automation, issue tracking and quality assurance as well. Overall, it’s a remarkably complete suite that rivals full life cycle management systems. It’s licensing model offers floating and named licenses, starting in the vicinity of $500. Compared with products such as Borland’s StarTeam, it’s more affordable, much easier to use and (at least based on my experience with StarTeam and Caliber) more reliable.