OpenText MediaBin vs. Perforce P4

If you want to share (or access) the most current version of any content MediaBin can be useful for ensuring that you are getting the right thing - assuming you can find it. Another useful functionality - OS sharing or exporting different file formats for a file. Often PDF works, but sometimes you need a file in a different image format and the software can allow that.

Incentivized

For large-scale codebases with fixed and regular releases that do not follow a continuous delivery paradigm, Perforce is certainly well suited. In projects that are small and distinctly separated from other discrete (though potentially dependent) units, the benefits of the Perforce tool may not be as clear of a victor over other systems.

Incentivized

• Export files in multiple formats
• Help reduce email clutter as a central repository
• Help with version control

Incentivized

• Merge algorithm is smart and utilizing the visual interface to do merges makes them easier to digest.
• Easy to set up on multiple platforms and architectures and is well supported on all of them.
• Visual interface has many tools and customization options that help to optimize and personalize workflow.

Incentivized

• Search is often a chellenge - using the file name or "item number" doesn't always bring up the expected results.
• Navigation is not intuitive in places - finding different functions
• The export function is powerful but not always clear, several options seem like the same thing. e.g. Do I need FTP ot HTTP download? Do I care?

Incentivized

• I was having a hard time learning it. Even if you are an experienced developer, there is some learning curve.
• Can be slow when working with large data sets at once.
• When working on multiple workspaces on the same machine, Perforce can make it difficult not to mess up the code.

We have a need to consolidate into a single package, and have such a large variety of technical proficiency among our users that Perforce seems less suitable. Many would like to remain using it, however, even those who use Perforce are the minority, and are often limited to our development teams.

Incentivized

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

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

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

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

I was not involved in the selection process but MediaBin seems to be more of a "repository" than a "file-folder" system. It also displays thumbnail previews of files making it useful for sorting through visual elements, like photos or PDFs. I am not certain how it compares with regard to version history.

Incentivized

New users of Perforce Helix can be up and running in less than thirty minutes. It is easy to use, but also very powerful. Bitbucket is slow, prone to outages, and (for large teams) requires a team of dedicated administrators. I've had request for information from Bitbucket that requires hours to pull together that would take me less than 30 seconds in Perforce Helix. Large file storage in Bitbucket is clunky and requires you to jump through too many hoops. It's not even something you have to think about with Perforce Helix, as you are only limited by your OS. Perforce Helix is very easy to use even for non-developers. I wouldn't dare ask a non-developer to store their documentation in Bitbucket.

Incentivized

• This software is more of a tool that resides in the background, so it is difficult to measure ROI.
• One negative impact is the challenges of managing access and thus limiting productivity when people can't access things.
• Another negative impact is the poor search functionality reducing productivity in finding the correct files when needed.

Incentivized

• Locking assets make us have no merge problems which are harder to manage on other versions control without locking
• Almost no need to give support to artists or non-tech folks because the operations are very straightforward
• There's no way to do interim checkins without going to the process of creating a stream

Incentivized