About Perforce

Founded in 1995, Perforce Software develops, markets, and supports Perforce, the Fast Software Configuration Management (SCM) System. Perforce SCM versions and manages source code and digital assets for enterprises large and small.

Perforce Software is a privately held company headquartered in Alameda, California; with international offices in Wokingham, United Kingdom and Sydney, Australia.

Selected Perforce Customers

Today more than 280,000 developers at 4,700 organizations worldwide use the Perforce SCM System to manage their source code and digital assets. Select U.S. customers include AMD, Electronic Arts, National Instruments, QUALCOMM, NVIDIA, ATI Technologies, and Washington Mutual. International customers include BBC News Online, Deutsche Bank, and Symbian. For more information, see the Perforce Customer Spotlight.

A Bit Of History

Christopher Seiwald founded Perforce Software in 1995 in direct response to unsatisfactory experiences with available software configuration management (SCM) tools. As a developer, Seiwald knew the key to successful SCM was to create a system that developers would want to use while still providing enough control to satisfy managers. Seiwald's basic premise has always been that developers won't use an SCM system that forces them to wait while it completes operations or otherwise interferes with their development activities.

This commitment to speed still drives Perforce Software and the development of its Fast SCM System.

The Perforce Approach To Business

"Straightforward" is the underlying principle that defines Perforce Software. The Perforce SCM System is powerful, yet easy to install, learn, and administer. Pricing is affordable, and the licensing model is transparent.

Perforce promises a straightforward relationship, and a product that meets both the technical needs of your staff and the business needs of your organization.

Ultimately, your team needs to evaluate our product. Perforce offers a free, fully functional version directly from our website. We encourage prospective customers to take advantage of our expert technical support while they evaluate.

Notable Recognitions

  • Winner of Software Development magazine's 2006 Jolt Product Excellence Award in the Defect Tracking, Change, and Configuration Management category. This award recognizes products that have "jolted" the industry with their significance, and have made the task of creating software faster, easier, and more efficient.
  • Winner of the SD Times award in 2004, 2005 & 2006, recognizing the leading and most influential companies in the software development industry.
  • Winner of Game Developer magazine's Frontline Award for excellence and innovation in game development programming tools.

For a complete list of awards, go to Awards & Recognition.

Industry Leadership

  • Christopher Seiwald, President and CTO, is highly regarded as an industry expert. Seiwald has authored numerous articles and white papers.
  • Laura Wingerd, Perforce Vice President of Product Technology, is also a respected expert on SCM, regularly speaking at conferences and contributing articles on the subject. Most recently, Wingerd authored Practical Perforce, a book discussing specific SCM strategies, published by O'Reilly Media.
  • Perforce was characterized as an "innovative technology vendor" in META Group's1 report2 on the enterprise SCM market. META chose Perforce for the report as one of only eight companies able to meet the SCM needs of the enterprise.

1. Gartner, Inc., acquired META Group on April 1, 2005.

2. META Group, Inc., "METAspectrumSM Market Summary: Enterprise Software Configuration Management Tools," 2004.