Unidata User Support
Summer/Fall 2008

Tom Yoksas
September 23, 2008

Unidata Inquiry Tracking System

Since January 26, 2006 over 13640 user support "transactions" (new inquiries and follow-ups) have been processed through the Unidata inquiry tracking system.

Unidata User Support Inquiry Metrics

Above are histograms that portray the number of Unidata email responses for categories of support for a one year period ending September 23 2008. The histograms are arranged by yearly activity averages with the highest on the left and lowest on the right. Each quarter year within the period is depicted from oldest to newest from left to right. The number of responses has been normalized to weekly averages so that the support load over the various periods can be easily compared.

Total support averaged 92 responses/week over the entire year; 98 for the first quarter; 104 for the second quarter; 101 for the third quarter; and 64 for the current quarter.

Individual support activities included in the categories depicted above are listed in the following table.

Category	Packages, Groups, and Lists
data	casestudies, casestudies-list, conduit, c2-linda, craft, craft-nws, craft-ty, datastream, difax, level2, level2-linda, level2-ty, noaaport, noaaport-ty, noaaportldm
dods	dods, dods-core, dods-list, dods-tech, dods-team, linda-dods, opendap, opendap-core, opendap-list, opendap-tech, opendap-team
gempak	gempak, gembud-list
ldm	ldm, ldm-users-list
lead, leadusers	lead
idd	cluster, idd, idd-antarctic, idd-brasil, idd-caribe, idd-inject, idd-status, scoop, suominet, tigge, venezuela
idv	idv, idvlist, idvsteering, metapps, visad-list, visad-renderer
mcidas	mcdevelop, mcidas, mcidas-list
miscellaneous	esupport, fxlinux, license, misc, network, notrack, platforms, wxp, wxp-list
netcdf	data-models, libcf, ncml, netcdf, netcdf-miss, netcdfgroup-list, netcdf-hdf-list, netcdf-java, netcdf-perl
nws-changes	nws-changes
outreach	agu-linda, agu-ty, ams-linda, announce, barbados-ty, cbmet-ty, chile-ty, egrants, egu-linda, external, iai-ty, meteoforum-ty, noaa-linda, nws-linda, unidata, workshop
thredds	java-dev, java-dev-list, thredds
utilities	decoders, ldm-mcidas, udunits

Comments:

• The numbers represented in the current plots are measurably less than in reports for previous meetings due to movement of activities related to email lists being moved to a different system. The 'nws-changes' category was left in the plot to remind the reader of this movement.
• The LEAD numbers are an underestimate of its activity since few LEAD email transactions go through User Support (but the numbers continue to increase).
• Support numbers for individual packages, groups, and lists can be seen in full support statistics.

Some tentative conclusions:

• The total support provided by the UPC remains high, and yearly totals have been steady for the past two years. Overall support activities vary by somewhat by quarter. Spikes in support for individual packages is largely correlated with the release of new distributions, and, for the IDV in particular, jumps after training workshops.
• Support required for the legacy visualization packages GEMPAK and McIDAS continues to be substantial. Even though GEMPAK is the most widely distributed analysis application, the IDV support load exceeds that for GEMPAK and is second behind that for the netCDF.
• Support required for LDM, IDD, and data continues at a high level and shows some variability throughout the year.
• Support for netCDF remains substantial, but is considered modest given the large number of users of the package worldwide.
• The high numbers for outreach reflect the high level of activity in organizing a special session for the AGU 2008 Spring Joint Assembly and the Latin American Data Workshop that were held in May and August, respectively.
• Taken as a whole, the support required for visualization packages (GEMPAK, IDV, and McIDAS) is reasonably comparable to the support related to data reception (LDM, IDD, noaaport).
• Support for any package increases after a new version of the package is made available.

Notes:

These numbers and conclusions should not be taken too literally, for several reasons:

• For some packages, multiple responses in the same thread may be bundled into a single archived email. Other packages have each response in a thread counted separately.
• After a new release of software, there may be a flurry of the same or similar questions, which can be answered in separate emails or in a single mailing list posting.
• The graph primarily represents support of end users and site administrators, not developers. Support for non-Unidata developers in projects such as THREDDS, IDV, GEMPAK, and McIDAS requires significant resources, but is difficult to assess.
• Not all support records were indexable for this report. Given this, the above numbers are an underestimate of the actual support being provided by the UPC.

by Tom Yoksas