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So, here is a problem we have all had probably countless times. We are working on a virtual team with lots of individual contributors. Our project’s final deliverable, by necessity, is going through a constant amending process with iteration upon iteration. And, even though we have a track changes feature in use on our respective word processing software, or even access to document management and file sharing services, “versioning” soon becomes an issue. Indeed, it becomes an impediment to timely collaboration, along with being very frustrating. 

If this is a problem you need to solve, you might find the announcement from content collaboration solutions provider Perforce Software something to investigate.  

On “commons” ground

Alameda, CA (News - Alert)-based Perforce has announced availability of afree cloud-based document collaboration solution, Commons Cloud.  As the company notes, it combines the simplicity of modern social apps with the version management capabilities of advanced software development tools. This is not just about cost and speed; it is also about advantaging teams when size is important. Commons Cloud allows anyone to create a hosted team of up to 20 participants to iterate on and evolve any type of file. Plus, there is no limit on the number of teams you can join.

As a recent Harris Interactive (News - Alert) survey found, despite all of the tools we have, 83 percent of knowledge workers still are losing time to file versioning issues.

Ease-of-use is the magic elixir. Commons Cloud let users drag a file anywhere into the system and the File Valet feature stores the file to the right place, notifies you of potential conflicts and recommends actions. Behind the scenes is a versioning engine used by some of the world's largest software companies for management of their intellectual property (IP). Commons Cloud employs this engine to maintain an indelible record of all files, versions and comments. Better yet, it lets users see who did what, when and why. In short, as Perforce explains, it provides complete traceability, which is obviously valuable in the short-term for executing deliverables but is also important to organizations that increasingly have compliance requirements that must be adhered to in the face of stiff penalties.

"One of the best things about Commons is that it provides all users with a complete and permanent history of every file, which makes everyone worry less about losing their work," said Scott Gilliland, technical specialist at Altair Engineering, Inc. "Another feature we enjoy is the 'File Valet.' It makes collaboration easy by letting teams across business functions work on the same files in parallel as it automatically merges all the changes."

Commons Cloud benefits

It is sometimes rare in our industry that product and service attributes can double as a value proposition. This is one of those cases where there is a good match of benefits and service attributes. These include:  

• Easy file management—you'll never have to search for the right file again
• Automated compare and merge capabilities for Microsoft (News - Alert) Word and PowerPoint files
• Complete and permanent record of all files, edits and comments for traceability and transparency
• Follow the evolution of content by receiving notifications anytime a file is modified or commented on

"Documents evolve so quickly that most teams are hard pressed to keep pace," said Christopher Seiwald, founder and CEO of Perforce. "Knowledge workers lose time everyday searching for the right file, manually resolving conflicting versions and trying to piece together the contributions from colleagues. We created Commons Cloud to extend the power of enterprise version management to teams that are working on things like PowerPoint files, artwork and Microsoft Word documents. It's a flexible and easy-to-use way for all types of knowledge workers to collaborate, but it makes no compromises to enterprise needs for compliance."

As noted, Commons Cloud is now available for free at commons.perforce.net. As somebody who in a previous life worked on lots of large virtual teams, it would have been a godsend to have had this type of capability available. Using valuable project time to make sure everyone was on the same version and could contribute in real-time was one of the prime aggravations of working remotely. Being on common ground is critical in our fast-paced world, and this is a tool that gets you there sooner rather than later.