The three levels of the Scaled Agile Framework^® (SAFe^®) aim to help organisations adopt lean-agile practices according to their needs. This guide explains what to expect at each level and which organisations should choose according to their requirements.

Understanding Scaled Agile

Scaled Agile is a term that encompasses the implementation of agile at an enterprise level. Of the various agile methodologies available, the Scaled Agile Framework^® (SAFe^®) is the most popular for implementing business agility. Developed by Scaled Agile Inc and launched in 2011, SAFe was the first formal framework for scaling agile, accounting for different parts of an organisation and the interdependencies within. It integrates the extensive bodies of knowledge from various lean-agile practices, as well as the experiences and lessons learnt from practitioners, into a comprehensive framework that allows enterprises to introduce agile not just across software development but organisation-wide.

In recent years, the uptake of agile in organisations has risen in correspondence with wider awareness of its benefits thanks to its core values of alignment, transparency, respect for people, and relentless improvement. At the micro level, this includes better collaboration and faster decision-making; at the macro level, many organisations experience a faster time to market, quality improvements, an increase in productivity and more engaged employees. This means agile is no longer a practice reserved for the team and project level – it has much wider applications throughout the organisation.

Three levels of SAFe^®

Scaled agile attracts organisations because it gives an integrated approach to the implementation of agile, including a comprehensive roadmap to embed agile at an enterprise level. There are three levels of SAFe designed for different stages of agile development that acknowledges that organisations differ in complexity with regard to the solutions they are looking to deliver. These are:

• Essential SAFe: Offers the foundational elements of agile to ensure practitioners are on the same page when collaborating. The main takeaway from Essential SAFe is the introduction of the Agile Release Train (ART).
• Large Solution SAFe: This is for large and complex solutions involving multiple teams but which stop short of portfolio responsibilities.
• Portfolio SAFe: The highest level encompasses portfolio concerns including strategy and investment funding, agile portfolio operations and lean governance for one or more value streams.

An organisation can adopt each of these levels in turn, according to their context and needs. Let’s look at each level in greater depth.

Scaled Agile Framework^® level 1: Essential SAFe^®

To understand Essential SAFe, you first need to familiarise yourself with one of the central practices of SAFe: the creation of an agile release train (ART).

Agile release train (ART): An ART is a cross-functional internal collective of agile teams within the organisation aligned to the business mission and centred on value creation through agile product delivery. Each team acts like a discrete virtual organisation to develop, deliver and contribute to one or more solutions and an ART ensures this forms a continuous value stream for the benefit of the customer through timeboxed planning intervals (PI).

PI planning (PI): this is a crucial event in the practice of SAFe; it connects strategy to execution by aligning teams and stakeholders to the overall mission. A PI planning event should result in committed PI objectives with assigned business values and an ART planning board that covers new feature delivery dates, team dependencies and relevant milestones.

Essential SAFe has two sub-levels: team and program.

Team level: At the team level, alignment of objectives, an agile mindset and agile methodology help to remove internal siloes and facilitate value flow for a continuous delivery pipeline.

Program level: At the program level, successful implementation sees the embedding of customer-centricity and lean principles and the use of iterative delivery practices.

Achieving the Essential SAFe level ensures the organisation meets the minimum requirements to create an Agile Release Train so it can deliver solutions for a continual flow of value. A functional ART indicates an organisation has successfully adopted:

• A lean-agile mindset
• An agile methodology
• SAFe’s core values
• SAFe’s 10 principles
• A continuous learning culture.

Scaled Agile Framework^® level 2: Large Solution SAFe^®

As the name implies, Large Solution SAFe is for larger, more complex delivery pipelines, although it stops short of portfolio concerns. It builds on Essential SAFe principles and practices by engaging multiple agile teams in a more advanced configuration. The key difference between Essential SAFe and Large Solution SAFe is the solution train flow.

Solution train: A solution train is a system of systems – it collects multiple agile release trains into a larger configuration for the purpose of addressing greater requirements and delivering more complex solutions. In order to do this effectively, the solution train requires additional roles, events, and artifacts to enable the systems within it to work interdependently. Its role is to align the people and the tasks so they share a solution vision, intent, and backlog while adhering to the overarching business mission. Solution train flow describes the process of having solution trains deliver a continuous flow of value to the customer.

When well-run, a solution train system should be able to assign parts of a solution to each ART according to features and then re-integrate the parts into a coherent solution for delivery and value realisation. Best-practice Large Solution SAFe requires agile teams to maintain a roadmap of desired capabilities for a few future planning intervals so that the timing of the solution train stays ahead of the ARTs; the solution level must dictate the activities of the ARTs.

Scaled Agile Framework^® level 3: Portfolio Level SAFe^®

Portfolio Level SAFe encompasses the foundational lean-agile principles and practices of Essential SAFe with the added concerns of strategy and investment funding, agile portfolio operations and lean governance for its value streams.

A well-managed portfolio should:

• Focus the value streams on developing the right products (fit for purpose);
• Evaluate and resource the product development process with the appropriate level of investment; and
• Ensure the solutions developed meet the portfolio’s strategic objectives.

What distinguishes the portfolio level from Large Solution SAFe is the inclusion of agile development value streams.

Development value stream: this represents one or more solutions that address the business mission and vision. Leveraging a shared governance model, organisations collectively use development value streams to align strategy to execution.

In Portfolio Level SAFe, the organisation connects related development value streams around the solutions needed for a particular business area so that its agile teams and agile release trains are pointed in the same direction. This makes it easier to determine adequate essential funding and minimises governance so that decision-making is decentralised and effective to achieve true business agility.

What is Full SAFe^®?

Full SAFe is the alignment and practice of both Large Solution SAFe and Portfolio SAFe in an organisation. It represents full business agility and wholesale adoption of the SAFe framework, where ART flow, solution train flow and portfolio flow all work to develop solutions and deliver value to the customer in accordance with the business mission and strategy.

Being Full SAFe indicates that scaled agile development within the business is comprehensive and agile practice is mature. It is designed for organisations that not only deliver large and/or complex solutions, as in Large SAFe, but have a portfolio of solutions with interdependencies where resource management is required, as in Portfolio SAFe. These are generally government and corporate bodies with many products and services that share systems and values.

Creating the agile enterprise

A truly agile enterprise is not just one that uses the agile methodology, but which has achieved business agility through successfully scaling agile from individual and team practitioners to encompass the whole enterprise level. This begins with a solid foundation through Essential SAFe and then integrates Large Solution SAFe and/or Portfolio SAFe as required. The interplay of these levels ensure that the organisation can align strategy with execution while continuing to deliver value, whether the solution is discrete or interdependent and part of a collective enterprise-level solution.

If your organisation is just starting out with the SAFe framework, begin with Essential SAFe training and certification to establish team agility for agile release trains. Large-scale training will help to ensure the introduction and scaling of agile is standardised, comprehensive and well-supported so there is a better chance of aligning goals, values and practices in the organisation. However, if organisation-wide training is not possible, you can start with key people to lead your agile transformation: SAFe for Architects is designed for Scrum masters and solutions/systems architects and Leading SAFe is for executives and senior project managers, as well as programme and portfolio managers.

SAFe education providers will then be able to determine when you are ready to add Large Solution SAFe and/or Portfolio SAFe as agile practice within the organisation matures. Successful uptake of the Scaled Agile Framework enables enterprises to deliver complex solutions ranging from software development, telecommunications and advanced manufacturing to healthcare, financial services and government services.

SAFe, the most popular agile framework for enterprises, offers organisations a structured guide to implementing agile at scale. Using three levels to differentiate the complexity of solutions required, SAFe can advance an organisation from baseline agile use to portfolio-level strategy and execution. Certification of agile practitioners throughout the organisation will ensure key personnel have the skills and knowledge to use agile to address challenges at the level they’re needed.

Start or advance your organisation’s agile practice with PM-Partners’ SAFe courses or SAFe consultation services. Contact us via our website or call 1300 70 13 14 to find out what level of scaled agile is right for you.

SAFe^® and Scaled Agile Framework^® are registered trademarks of Scaled Agile, Inc.