SAFe, which stands for the Scaled Agile Framework, is an advanced concept used in project and product management, particularly for large-scale software development projects. It’s a set of organization and workflow patterns intended to guide enterprises in scaling lean and agile practices. SAFe promotes alignment, collaboration, and delivery across large numbers of agile teams.
Key components of SAFe include:
Lean-Agile Principles: These principles are the foundational guidelines for decision-making and behavior within a SAFe organization, drawing heavily from lean and agile methodologies.
Agile Teams: Agile teams are cross-functional groups that define, build, and test increments in short iterations. They are the fundamental building blocks of a SAFe organization.
Agile Release Trains (ARTs): These are long-lived teams of agile teams, which along with other stakeholders, plan, commit, and execute together in program increments, typically lasting 8-12 weeks.
Solution Trains: These coordinate multiple Agile Release Trains to build large and complex solutions.
Large Solution, Portfolio, and Full SAFe Configurations: SAFe provides a customizable framework that allows organizations to apply it at various levels (team, program, large solution, and portfolio) depending on their size and complexity.
Lean Portfolio Management: This aspect involves aligning the portfolio with enterprise strategy, funding innovative initiatives, and governing agile portfolio operations.
Continuous Delivery Pipeline and DevOps: SAFe emphasizes the importance of continuous integration, continuous deployment, and release-on-demand, along with DevOps culture, to improve time-to-market and solution quality.
SAFe Roles: There are specific roles within SAFe such as SAFe Program Consultant (SPC), Release Train Engineer (RTE), and Product Owner/Product Manager, each with specific responsibilities to help facilitate and guide SAFe practices.
Community of Practice: SAFe encourages the formation of communities of practice (CoPs) to enhance skills, share knowledge, and innovate within a domain or practice.
SAFe is widely recognized for its ability to enable complex organizations to achieve a more efficient and effective workflow, delivering value faster and with higher quality. It is particularly beneficial in environments where multiple teams need to work together towards a common goal, or where alignment and collaboration across teams are crucial for success.
See also LeSS.