Trilinos-Support-Policy.md

@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@ User and client support is an essential element of any actively used and develop
 
 The Trilinos Project is committed to providing support for its user community, prioritizing support activities according to its mission requirements.  This policy sketch provides the framework for conducting support activities, roles and responsibilities.  Detailed support strategies for funded projects should be consistent with the policy stated here and provide further detail.
 
+## Trilinos Support Components
+
+The Trilinos Project support strategy is composed of three components:
+- **Prevention:** The most effective approach to providing support is to produce high-quality software design, implementation, documentation and testing.   This enables clients and users to more easily work with the product and reduces the number of support events.  For an ongoing project, the biggest benefit comes from eliminating regressions as the software environment changes.  Careful testing is essential.
+- **Diagnosis:** When support is required, it often requires diagnosing the cause of the support issue.  Trilinos contains a large and complex product suite, so assistance from Trilinos leadership can be essential in identifying the scope and responsibility for handling a support event.
+- **Resolution:** Many support events are easily fixed after the event source is determined.  Trilinos team members are committed to resolving support events as priorities dictate.  Some events are very challenging to resolve and may require a long, concerted effort.  This is especially true of issues that arise only during high-end simulations.  For these events, Trilinos leadership is committed to assigning resources as priorities and urgencies require.
+
 ## Trilinos Support Philosophy
 
 Software support is a significant cost.  Many studies estimate support and maintenance to be 70 - 80% of the total software project cost.  Any improvement in support will have significant impact on quality, cost and time.
@@ -19,16 +26,17 @@ The Trilinos Project considers its interactions with the general user community
 ### Funded Projects
 
 Most Trilinos capabilities are developed within projects targeted at specific modeling and simulation capabilities.  Direct funding is provided for both application developers and for Trilinos developers and support staff.  For these projects (called **funded projects** below), the following statements apply:
+1. _**The Trilinos team is committed to improving the quality of its products, especially toward the goal of improving the client and user experience:**_ We welcome any input from our clients and users that can help us improve our product and support capabilities.
+1. _**<[email protected]> - Funded project clients and users can submit any support issue to the Trilinos Project Help email address:**_ Diagnosing the cause of a support event can be very challenging.  In order to assist clients and users, the Trilinos Project provides a single point of contact for any funded project: <[email protected]>.  Messages sent to this address will be handled promptly in order to diagnose the source and establish a resolution strategy.  If the client or user does not need diagnosis assistance, they are encouraged to work directly with the Trilinos issue tracking system.
+1. _**The Trilinos Project will work with clients and users to resolve support events as quickly and efficiently as possible:**_ Using our support processes, the Trilinos team will resolve issues in collaboration with our clients are users.  For large funded projects we will conduct regular meetings to review and resolve issues.
 1. _**Trilinos support will be an explicitly planned and funded activity within the funded project:**_ While the Trilinos project has dedicated support staff, staffing and funding for support must come from aggregate resources provided by funded projects.  Specific project budget amounts should be set aside for support.
-1. _**Funded projects will have a support plan that is consistent with Trilinos support policies:**_ The Trilinos support policy provides a framework for support planning and activities, but should be customized and fully developed as part of the funded project planning.
-1. _**First level Trilinos support will come from funded project team members who are part of the Trilinos team:**_ Trilinos team members who are part of a funded project must be the first points of contact for Trilinos support.  They can engage the Trilinos framework team and other Trilinos team members to provide full support. Significant support from the broader Trilinos team should be part of the funded project support plan.
-1. _**Trilinos developers will follow Trilinos policies to reduce future support costs:**_ Trilinos developers are expected to follow Trilinos policies for [Issue Management](https://github.com/trilinos/Trilinos/wiki/Managing-Trilinos-Project-Issues), [Testing](https://github.com/trilinos/Trilinos/wiki/Trilinos-Testing-Policy) and [Pre-push Testing](https://github.com/trilinos/Trilinos/wiki/Policies-%7C-Safe-Checkin-Testing).  They are also expected to work with the Trilinos framework team to develop a project-specific support plan.
-1. _**Trilinos framework staff will oversee funded project support activities:**_ Trilinos framework team members are responsible for support policy management, tools and testing environments. They will work with funded project teams to assure that funded project support is effective and consistent with Trilinos policies.
-1. _**Trilinos framework staff will provide support for framework activities associated with funded projects:**_  Trilinos framework team members will provide funded projects with support in the use of build, integration and testing infrastructures, understanding Trilinos issue management, testing and other policies.  If framework staffing demands are significant, the funded project should budget for this effort.
+1. _**Trilinos Framework staff with work with funded projects to develop a support plan that is consistent with Trilinos support policies:**_ The Trilinos support policy provides a framework for support planning and activities, but should be customized and fully developed as part of the funded project planning.
 
 ### Notes:
 1. _**Policy Scope:**_ This policy formally applies to any _Production Growth_ package development.  It also applies to modifications of other Trilinos packages that are not being actively developed but are essential and may require modification. It is encouraged for packages in other phases (_Research Stable_ or _Production Maintenance_).
-2. _**Exceptions:**_ Yes, there will be exceptional circumstances where you need to bypass the support policy, but it should be the _exception_ and addressed as soon as possible.  Exceptions should be documented and reviewed by Trilinos framework staff.
+1. _**Exceptions:**_ Yes, there will be exceptional circumstances where you need to bypass the support policy, but it should be the _exception_ and addressed as soon as possible.  Exceptions should be documented and reviewed by Trilinos framework staff.
+1. _**Trilinos framework team role:**_ Trilinos framework team members are responsible for support policy management, tools and testing environments. They will work with funded project teams to assure that funded project support is effective and consistent with Trilinos policies.  Trilinos framework team members will provide funded projects with support in the use of build, integration and testing infrastructures, understanding Trilinos issue management, testing and other policies.  If framework staffing demands are significant, the funded project should budget for this effort.
+1. _**Related policies:**_ In order to improve future support capabilities and reduce support costs, Trilinos developers are expected to follow Trilinos policies for [Issue Management](https://github.com/trilinos/Trilinos/wiki/Managing-Trilinos-Project-Issues), [Testing](https://github.com/trilinos/Trilinos/wiki/Trilinos-Testing-Policy) and [Pre-push Testing](https://github.com/trilinos/Trilinos/wiki/Policies-%7C-Safe-Checkin-Testing).
 
 ### Questions?
 Contact Mike Heroux <[email protected]>