What is our primary use case?
I have specific licenses regarding running third-party applications. We are not using IncrediBuild in Visual Studio at all. We are not using it for C++ or compiling. We are using it for running a third-party application, which is our application, where we do automatic generation of code. I am in one group at Elbit Systems. There are probably other groups who use IncrediBuild differently, but I am using it for this specific task.
We wanted to decrease the time that it took before using Incredibuild. This is basically our use case.
It is installed on my servers. It is not on the cloud. Our network is disconnected from the Internet.
How has it helped my organization?
We are using the Incredibuild agent to run multiple processes on all available cores. This is the improvement that we did. Instead of the machine's core doing task after task, it is now running on multiple machines.
In my working environment, it is saving time for all our developers in regards to the time consumption of the builds. My team has four people who manage and interact with Incredibuild as a product.
What needs improvement?
The logging instability has room for improvement. Sometimes, I am getting exceptions from the Coordinator and don't have a clue why. In these cases, I just reboot the server, and it is okay. So, I would like more info about a crash when it happens.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using it for about eight years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability could be improved. I don't know the reason for the instability because there are no logs that help me to understand the problem.
How are customer service and support?
In the beginning, I had a few phone calls until the process was stable because I didn't understand why it was not stable. Most of it wasn't stable because my processes weren't built for running multiple processes at the same time. So, we had to make some changes. Besides that, I haven't used Incredibuild support.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We didn't use a different solution previously.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward. I just ran the setup, which was easy. Installing and configuring the environment was easy for me. However, I am a software guy, which made it easy for me, but it might not ;be easy for others.
The deployment took a few hours. This time was to understand what I want and how to use it. The main work was on my side to change the product and my processes to use Incredibuild.
I implemented Incredibuild into my build processes in my TFS environment using the Incredibuild command line tool.
What was our ROI?
For each build that runs where I need to generate a code, it takes around half an hour instead of an hour and a half. It also takes a few builds until we are done.
It is saving time for developers, which is saving money for the company.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Its pricing and licensing are annoying. Every year, I need to renew. If I miss the deadline date, all my processes will stop working. So, I would prefer that I wouldn't need to renew every year, instead have another solution for it. Or, if we could have an enterprise license agreement with the company, then the development team wouldn't need to spend time renewing licenses.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We didn't evaluate other solutions.
What other advice do I have?
I use Incredibuild for a special need. 80% of our code gets generated, and this was time-consuming in a build. Our code is C#, which is not like C++, and running the compilation in C# using IncrediBuild won't save time. So, I didn't use this part of the product. I am just using it to increase our processes behind it.
I would rate Incredibuild as eight out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
*Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
