Release Process Proposal

[jpshackelford]

Description

This PR introduces a comprehensive OpenHands Enterprise Release Process Proposal that addresses current gaps in our release cadence, versioning strategy, and customer support expectations.

📖 Read the full proposal here (easier to read than the raw markdown below)

Key Proposal Highlights

• Weekly Enterprise releases staggered 1 week behind SaaS for validation and stability
• Support current + previous 2 releases (3 total supported versions) during rapid evolution phase
• Unified versioning strategy with synchronized version numbers across all components
• Automated release coordination to eliminate manual Git SHA tracking

Document Structure

• Executive Summary: High-level overview of recommendations and benefits
• Complete Table of Contents: Navigation for all sections and subsections
• Enterprise Customer Analysis: Detailed breakdown of traditional vs. fast-moving enterprise patterns
• Technical Implementation: Concrete automation and repository coordination strategies

Changes in This PR

• Added comprehensive Executive Summary highlighting key recommendations
• Added detailed Table of Contents with all sections and subsections
• Enhanced Forward-Leaning/Fast-Moving Enterprises section with insights about regulated organizations
• Added clarification about document scope and delivery model assumptions

Intent and Review Process

This PR is intended for collaborative review and decision-making. The goal is to use GitHub's review process to gather feedback, discuss alternatives, and refine the proposal through team collaboration.

Important: This document is not intended to land in main in its current form. Instead, this PR serves as:

• A structured forum for reviewing and discussing the release process proposal
• A way to gather input from stakeholders across engineering, product, and customer success
• A collaborative space to refine recommendations before implementation

Please review the proposal and provide feedback on:

• Release cadence recommendations
• Support policy approach
• Technical implementation strategy
• Enterprise customer considerations
• Any missing aspects or alternative approaches

Helm Chart Checklist

• N/A - This PR only adds documentation, no Helm charts modified

Additional Notes

The proposal assumes continuation of Model 1 - Customer-Managed Installations (potentially streamlined with Replicated), while acknowledging Model 2 - Vendor-Managed Appliance Approach as a viable alternative that would require different strategies.