SAFe or Scaled Agile Framework is an enterprise-level framework with agile and lean practices which is available online as a knowledge base for public use and bears no cost. The main principle of the Scaled Agile Framework is to guide enterprises to follow easy, lightweight, and agile experiences for software product development and other business practices. With the latest version released in the year 2018, it proved as an enterprise SAFe framework. It is an extension of the classic Agile Framework with improvements for fulfilling all requirements of enterprises with a highly scalable lean-agile practice including lean agile software and systems
Why Opt for Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)?
For enterprises not familiar with the SAFe Scaled Agile Framework approach, understanding the situations or reasons to adopt an agile safe methodology for simple, flexible software product development process or software product design and development would be productive. Here are listed some smart reasons to opt for Scaled Agile Approach in business processes via Scaled Agile Framework.
- It provides scaled frameworks for lead time development for products under development.
- It transforms the struggle of businesses to align processes with uniform strategies to actual successful results.
- It lets business or enterprise teams operate individually without any support.
- It fixes all obstacles or difficulties coming in the way of multiple teams in an organization trying to adopt agile framework project management.
- It delivers consistent Agile Scaled Framework services based on SAFe lean-agile principles for multiple team portfolios.
How it is different than other Agile practices?
Many enterprises are already involved in different lean Agile practices like implementing Agile Software Development metrics for enhancing business processes through agile frameworks but SAFe for enterprises are outstanding and compensates for failures of any Agile practice.
Let us understand some upper hand points of the enterprise SAFe Framework which is it is absolutely free and available online as an open-source for public use. The scaled framework is transparent, light-level delivers consistent updates and improvements to classic agile practices, specific to a certain level with regular feedback services for enhancement in customized software product development process. It is easily approachable and provides multiple useful extensions to regular agile frameworks and practices. All these features based on Scaled Agile Framework principles work for nulling failures and bad practices by common Agile frameworks. Hence, there is a lot of scope for improvement and powerful scaling in business management and software product development practices with SAFe development plan and enterprise SAFe framework.
Benefits of Scaled Agile Framework
There are multiple advantages of the Scaled Agile Framework used by enterprises team to achieve their business goals with accurate alignment of team with products and uniformity of cost, value, time, and scale for swift software product developments.
- Excellent increase in productivity:
Enterprises experience about 50% of the increase in productivity after utilizing Scaled Agile Framework practices and solutions as teams involved have a clear understanding of requirements by enterprise stakeholders, have perfect alignment to products, work balance, customer level transparency, etc. for simply highly productive and quick developments.
- Picture clear transparency:
Scaled Agile Framework offered high enhancements in job satisfaction, engagement of developers owing to its transparent practices, open communications, and cross-platform interactions for building innovative solutions, enhancements to processes without doubts.
- Specific business practices:
SAFe handles the provision of best practices with agile and lean frameworks for software development working all around for the simple, agile, and quality development process with a centralized focus on the SAFe agile product management.
- Quality is not compromised:
Quality with SAFe approach in the enterprise can be grown by more than 50% with high-quality practices providing swift and errorless process flows along with teams throughout the stable environment.
- Team-centric approach:
SAFe teams understand their objectives which could be diverse from the organization’s objectives. Teams work independently with crystal clear goals, process transparency, better collaborations within a positive work environment towards quality developments.
- Reduce time-to-market:
An agile project delivery framework, reduced batch size, and quick project delivery results in value to market and highly satisfied customers. The range of increase in time to market by scaling Agile with SAFe is about 30% to 70%.
Different Levels in SAFe
Now, we know the multiple advantages of the Scaled Agile Framework for enterprises, let us gain more knowledge about different levels in SAFe with brief descriptions.
- Team Level:
Includes self-powered, managed, and cross-functional teams which are part of Agile Release Train or ART. These teams apply built-in practices for quality, and define, build and test Team Backlog stories or customer needs. It utilizes the Team Kanban routine for high-quality systems and a Demo every two weeks. The product owner will have the authority to accept stories and management work in this level is to identify, elaborate, prioritize, schedule, implement and test stories.
- Program Level:
SAFe value is offered by ART with iteration powered to the team and train to the program. In this multiple agile teams work together for customer satisfaction. The Product Manager defines program backlog, a features list, the DevOps team manages software deployments, the Release Management team supports the delivery of quality solutions to customers or clients, the UX designers team manages UX, interface design, elements, etc.
- Portfolio Level:
Agile portfolio management framework is the highest level with basic blocks for enterprise flow management via Value Streams. It involves persons, processes, optimal, agile build systems to achieve the objectives of the enterprise. Scaled Agile Framework portfolio linkage to a business modifying its strategy with strategic themes is outstanding. It invests in value streams for expected outputs and offers budgeting, governance mechanisms.
- Value stream level:
It is the newly introduced level in SAFe management and is optional. It is suited for large, complex solutions integrated, individual enterprises or organizations in need of multiple ARTs, with big system challenges and suppliers’ contributions. This level system building requires hundreds of practitioners which is quite uneconomic and therefore an economic framework for the Value Stream level is available. Value stream level shows compatibility to synchronization of multiple suppliers and ARTs, provides roles such as Value Stream engineer, solution architect, solution management, etc.
Start your Agile process now!
Upon quick discussion on Scaled Agile Framework for enterprises for its description, need to implement, linked benefits, and multiple levels, it is quite easy to contemplate that it works productively and efficiently for enterprises involved in software product development processes mainly.
Agile scaling frameworks are proven technology services that utilize centralized strategy build-ups to conquer organization goals with high productivity, quality, transparency, and reduced time to market values. When you have an idea of outsourcing your business requirements SAFe agile process help you in achieving your business goal successfully and perfectly.
SAFe implementation tracking with reporting layer addition to all SAFe levels is useful for knowing how better any organization is performing with this framework.
There were critical charges against SAFe namely – advanced technical debt, dependence on story point normalization, lesser support to support and operation teams but SAFe solutions like agile principles, authority to developers’ team, and use of DevOps prove them completely wrong.
And so, if you are interested in complex project management for multiple teams with a SAFe environment, it’s time to test this framework by taking a small test or dummy project in the account. It will be hard definitely for the first time where you as a Project Manager or Team member can get expert consultations from a trusted and renowned IT services provider company anytime.
Get quick assistance and start your scaled agile process now.