Good systems cannot be built without good version control.

There are three general types of systems:

• Simple, Free Systems - These include RCS and CVS, both of which have long and rich histories.  They have price and knowledge advantages, plus they are generally cross-platform and of very high quality. 

• Good Commercial Systems - These include Perforce, SourceSafe, MKS and many others.  These are often the best choice for most development, as they combine reasonable price ($250-600/developer), good feature sets, and good support.

• High-End Configuration Management Systems - These include the high end Rational products such as ClearCase. 

With any system, it's important to set it up and use it properly.  It is usually desirable to install the system as soon as possible, so developers can play with it during the spec and prototype phase; this allows them to work out all the kinks and then restart from scratch for the real development effort.  Starting from scratch with real code often results in kludges and poorly implemented controls, particularly in code layout and branching.