Zeta Associates Saves 2 to 3 Weeks Per Release After Implementing AccuRev
Zeta Associates Incorporated is an employee-owned company founded in 1984. Zeta Associates is a leading provider to the Intelligence and Defense communities of complex communications signals collection and processing systems. Their software-based, DSP solutions are deployed worldwide in both the national and tactical arenas. Zeta Associates excels at DSP algorithm development and prototyping, systems integration, hardware integration and development, and field deployment.
Customer Profile
Zeta Associates, Inc., a leading provider of complex communications signals collection and processing systems for Intelligence and Defense communities, provides software-based DSP solutions world-wide. Zeta Associates currently operates in a demanding and fast-paced environment with anywhere from 20 to 30 development teams.
Background
Prior to using AccuRev, development teams at Zeta Associates used CVS for their Software Configuration Management needs. But one team in particular faced significant challenges and unnecessary restrictions. In the midst of transitioning from a project-based team to a process-based team, CVS lacked proper efficiency and did not meet the team’s needs and requirements. This development team relied heavily on the ability to work on the same code, and CVS didn’t allow the necessary collaboration between team members. Resorting to frequent merges required a great deal of time, time that was too valuable to be lost.
Before implementing AccuRev, the development team at Zeta Associates followed a pattern; write, check-in, write, check-in. And when an issue was found, such as overwritten code, the process was halted. Fixing overwritten code could take weeks to find and change, and for a team developing in a fast-paced environment focused on adhering to customer deadlines, time lost was not acceptable.
The Evaluation
These challenges drove a development team at Zeta, led by Senior Software Engineer Jim Helton, to evaluate other SCM tools on the market. These tool evaluations focused on three factors: collaboration capabilities, the ability to operate in a fast-paced environment, and simple to use. After using AccuRev at a previous employer, Jim Helton already knew how simple and effective AccuRev was to use, as well as how easy it was to learn. But this only matched a portion of the necessary criteria.
Real Results
Through evaluation, Jim Helton and his development team found that AccuRev’s common collaboration framework delivered unprecedented visibility, collaboration, and productivity to project management. The ability for team collaboration within AccuRev virtually eliminated these problems within the Zeta development team. With AccuRev, the team was able work on the same code and receive updates when code was changed. Allowing visibility into changed code earlier in the development process allowed testing to perform much faster, and saved days-worth of time when searching for overwritten code.
"The key reason I returned to AccuRev was because of collaboration between team members. My team needed to be able to work on different parts of the same code and view updates as code is changed. Quickly gaining visibility into promoted code changes that unintentionally resulted in overwritten code cut down on testing time and allowed us to deliver releases to our customers much faster. AccuRev really excelled in this area when compared to other tools."
– Jim Helton, Senior Software Engineer
In addition to an unprecedented collaboration framework, the development team found AccuRev to be highly effective improving time to market. Merging code with AccuRev instantly showed his team what had been overwritten, allowing for much faster fixes.
“When our projects are approaching a customer deadline, AccuRev code streams have really helped us out. After promoting, we can see what was overwritten and fix it much faster than before. What used to take us 2 to 3 days now can be completed the same day it was begun, and our releases are 2 to 3 weeks shorter than before. The features within AccuRev definitely allow us faster development and faster releases."
AccuRev offered the team a process-driven solution that and has repeatedly delivered exceptional business value since its implementation. The ability to offer faster releases with more visibility and team collaboration was exactly what the Zeta development team needed to modernize its structure. Spending less time fixing issues led the development team to faster releases, and the opportunity for more customer projects.
“A couple of weeks-worth of time is saved with each build. We don't have to wait as long when code gets to the testing stage. We save time. That is the major benefit we have found with AccuRev."
