those who need those communication protocols, having them as standards makes all of the difference.
Don't just make a switch. Look at the various branching reasons listed here - add your own. I'd really appreciate it if you added your own as comments or references to this article - it would help everyone. Take incremental steps, reducing branching complexity until you're more comfortable with a full cutover. You won't realize most of the benefits until you reach a state of Stream-Based Branching, and even then, it depends on the tools you're using to support such a capability.
But from decades of experience with this form of branching, I'm convinced that the next two generations of CM tools will see a vigorous level of support in this area. Many corporate processes, and some CM tool vendor guidelines, already embrace it in one form or another. And the benefits are just too great for it not to emerge as a branching standard in the Next Generation of CM technology.
About the author
Joe Farah is the President and CEO of Neuma Technology and is a regular contributor to the CM Journal. Prior to co-founding Neuma in 1990 and directing the development of CM+, Joe was Director of Software Architecture and Technology at Mitel, and in the 1970s a Development Manager at Nortel (Bell-Northern Research) where he developed the Program Library System (PLS) still heavily in use by Nortel's largest projects. A software developer since the late 1960s, Joe holds a B.A.Sc. degree in Engineering Science from the University of Toronto. You can contact Joe at farah@neuma.com
