Skip to main content
Foundations of the
Scaled Agile Framework

®

A Leadership Guide to Building the
Lean|Agile Enterprise

.

.

Training Coaching Delivery Services
Alan Bustamante, SPC
alan@xceleratepartners.com
Mobile: +1.210.367.7680
Twitter: @alanbustamante
www.xceleratepartners.com
© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC.
®
Scaled Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.
© 2008 - 2013Agile Framework is a trademark of Leffingwell, LLC.

V2.5.1
1
About Alan Bustamante
Alan Bustamante is a certified SAFe Program Consultant and Trainer
Alan Bustamante, SPC
 13+ Years Software Delivery
 Multi-Industry Client Base

Services
 SAFe Agilist (SA) certification
through Leading SAFE training

 Community Engagement

 SAFe Practitioner (SP)
certification through SAFe
ScrumXP training

 Mobile: +1.210.367.7680

 Agile Release Train Quickstarts

 Email: alan@xceleratepartners.com

 Agile Coaching and Mentoring

 Local and Global teams

 Project and Program Rescue
 Enquire about other training and
consulting services

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

3
Agenda

SAFe Background & Underpinnings
SAFe Core Values
 Code Quality
 Program Execution
 Alignment
 Transparency

Next Steps

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

4
SAFe Background and
Underpinnings

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

5
The Scaled Agile Framework® (SAFe)
The Scaled Agile Framework is a proven, publicly-facing framework
for applying Lean and Agile practices at enterprise scale

 Synchronizes alignment,
collaboration and delivery
 Well defined in books
and now on the web
 Scales successfully to large
numbers of practitioners and
teams
Core values:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Code Quality
Program Execution
Alignment
Transparency

http://ScaledAgileFramework.com
© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

7
Roots of the Scaled Agile Framework
Iterative and
Incremental
Development

Lean Thinking

Agile Development

Product
Development Flow

Field experience at
enterprise scale

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

8
Agile Process Movement

SAFe
Enterprises
Nordstrom,
Visa, Telstra,
Nokia, BMC
Software, John
Deere,
TradeStation
Technologies,
Tripwire,
Discount Tire,
Nokia Siemens
Networks,
ValPak…

Enterprise
Agility

Agile (Adaptive)
Processes
Scrum, XP, Lean, Open UP, FDD, Crystal…

Iterative
Processes
Spiral

RAD

RUP…

Predictive
Process
1970

1980

1990

2000

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

2010
9
Framework Creator: Dean Leffingwell

 Creator: Scaled
Agile Framework
 Agile Enterprise
Coach

 Founder and CEO
ProQuo, Inc., Internet
identity

 Senior VP
Rational Software
Responsible for Rational
Unified Process (RUP) &
Promulgation of UML

To some of the
world’s largest
enterprises

 Agile Executive Mentor
BMC, John Deere

 Founder/CEO
Requisite, Inc.
Makers of RequisitePro

 Chief Methodologist
Rally Software

 Cofounder/Advisor

 Founder/CEO

Ping Identity, Roving Planet,
Silver Creek Systems, Rally
Software

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

RELA, Inc.
Colorado MEDtech

10
Contributors
Associate
Methodologist

Principal
Contributors

Drew Jemilo

Colin O’Neill

Alex Yakyma

Alan Shalloway

Acknowledgements

Enterprise
Adopters

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

Community

11
Detractors

“The boys from RUP (Rational
Unified Process) are back.
Building on the profound
failure of RUP, they are now
pushing the Scaled Agile
Framework (e) as a simple,
one-size fits all approach to
the agile organization.”
- Ken Schwaber

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

12
Early SAFe Adopters

Case studies on
the Scaled Agile
Framework
website

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

13
SAFe Delivers Business Results
Significant
increase in
employee
engagement

30-50%
faster time
to market

20-50%
increase in
productivity

50%+ defect
reduction

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

14
Lean Thinking Provides the Tools We Need

Respect for
People

Product
Development
Flow

Kaizen

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

17
Product Development Flow

1. Take an economic view
Respect for
People

Product
Development
Flow

Kaizen

2. Actively manage queues
3. Understand and exploit
variability
4. Reduce batch sizes
5. Apply WIP constraints
6. Control flow under uncertainty:
cadence and synchronization
7. Get feedback as fast as
possible

Reinertsen, Don. Principles of Product Development Flow

8. Decentralize control

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

18
SAFe Core Values

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

27
© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

28
Agile Teams
 Empowered, self-organizing, self-managing crossfunctional teams
 Valuable, fully-tested software increments every two weeks
 Scrum practices and XP-inspired technical practices
 Teams operate under program vision, system, architecture
and user experience guidance
 Value description via User Stories

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

29
Code Quality
You can’t scale crappy code
Agile
Architecture

Code Quality Provides:

Continuous
Integration

Test-First

Refactoring

 Higher quality products and
services, customer
satisfaction
 Predictability and integrity of
software development
 Development scalability

Pair Work

Collective
Ownership

 Higher development velocity,
system performance and
business agility
 Ability to innovate

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

30
Scale to the Program Level
 Self-organizing, self-managing team-of-agile-teams
 Continuous value delivery
 Aligned to a common mission via a single backlog

 Common sprint lengths and estimating
 Face-to-face planning cadence for collaboration,
alignment, synchronization, and assessment
 Value description via Features and Benefits
© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

32
The Agile Release Train
The ART is a long-lived, self-organizing team of agile teams
that delivers solutions
 A virtual organization of 5 – 12 teams (50-125 individuals) that
plans, commits, and executes together
 Common cadence and normalized story point estimating
 Aligned to a common mission via a single program backlog
 Operates under architectural and UX guidance
 Frequently produces valuable and evaluate-able system-level
solutions

Define new
functionality

Implement

Acceptance
Test

Deploy

Repeat until further notice. Project chartering not required.

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

33
Program Execution
Agile Release Trains – self-organizing teams of agile teams – reliably
and frequently deliver enterprise value
 Driven by Vision and
Roadmap
 Lean, economic
prioritization
 Frequent, quality
deliveries
 Fast customer feedback
 Fixed, reliable cadence
 Regular Inspect and
Adapt drives continuous
improvement
© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

34
Develop on Cadence. Deliver on Demand.
Development occurs on a fixed cadence. The business decides when
value is released.

Customer
Preview

Major
Release

Customer
Upgrade

Major
Release

New
Feature

Deliver on Demand

PSI

PSI

PSI

PSI

PSI

Develop on Cadence

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

35
Product Manager - Product Owner Team
SAFe scales content authority with a Product Manager-Product
Owner Team

1

 Owns Program Backlog
 Defines features, PSIs,
and releases
 Owns pricing, licensing,
ROI
 Works with architects to
prioritize architectural
features

2..4

1..2

1

 Owns Team backlog(s)
 Defines sprints and
stories
 Accepts sprint
increments
 Includes refactors and
redesigns in the backlog

 Implements value
 Integrates with other
teams
 Evolves design

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

36
PSI Planning Agenda

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

38
PSI Planning

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

39
Planning Radiator

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

40
PSI 2 Plan Review

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

41
PS3 Plan Review

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

42
Scale to the Portfolio

 Centralized strategy, decentralized execution
 Investment themes provide operating budgets for trains
 Kanban systems provide portfolio visibility and WIP limits
 Objective metrics support governance and kaizen
 Value description via Business and Architectural Epics

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

46
Epic Position Statement

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

47
An Example

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

48
Feature Mapping

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

49
Alignment
Alignment from Portfolio to Program to Team

Alignment

Business
Owners

 Clear content authority
 Face-to-face planning
 Aligned Team, Program
and Business Owner
objectives
 Cross-team and crossprogram coordination
 Architecture and UX
guidance
 Match demand to
throughput

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

50
Alignment to Investment Themes

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

51
Program Portfolio Management
SAFe provides transformational patterns to Lean|Agile PPM

#1 Centralized control

Decentralized decision-making

#2 Project overload

Demand management; continuous
value flow

#3 Detailed project plans

Lightweight, epic-only business cases

#4 Centralized annual planning

Decentralized, rolling-wave planning

#5 Work Breakdown Structure

Agile estimating and planning

#6

Project-based funding and
control

#7 Waterfall milestones

Self-organizing, self-managing Agile
Release Trains
Objective, fact-based measures and
milestones

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

52
Transparency
Transparency builds confidence, alignment and trust

Transparency

 All backlogs and
progress visible to all
stakeholders
 Objective reporting
based on working,
tested, evaluated code
 Everyone understands
backlog, capacity,
velocity, WIP
 Management leads
and fosters open
environment
© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

54
Next Steps

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

55
Learn
Become a SAFe
Lean Thinking
Manager-Teacher

Launch Agile
Release Trains

Leverage the
Community

 Browse the framework
 Read the book
 Build your expertise with training
and certification

 Accelerate value delivery with
your first Agile Release Train

 Get help from the experts at
ScaledAgile.com and
ScaledAgilePartners.com
 Join the community at
community.ScaledAgile.com
© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

56
Certification Paths

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

57
Pilot - Leading SAFe Class

For: Executives, Managers, and Internal
or External Change Agents
When: Thursday, 11/21 and Friday, 11/22
Where: Max Technical Training in Cincy
Cost: $1,399 (which includes SA exam
fee and licensing)
Benefit:
• Foundational and implementation
knowledge for SAFe
• Qualifies for SAFe Agilist (SA) exam
• Qualifies for PMI PDU’s
© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

60
Thank You!
Browse the Scaled Agile Framework
Read Agile Software Requirements:
Lean Requirements Practices for
Teams, Programs, and the Enterprise
Get Training, Certification and Courseware
from Scaled Agile Academy
Get help on implementation strategy,
and customizable Scaled Agile Process
and Scaled Agile Framework
Learn how to launch Agile Release Trains
with the Agile Release Train Quickstart

ScaledAgileFramework.com

DeanLeffingwell.com/book-agile-software-requirements/

ScaledAgileAcademy.com

XceleratePartners.com

ScaledAgile.com/launch-agile-release-train

Get help from the experts and the extensive
service delivery partner community
at Scaled Agile Partners

XceleratePartners.com

Join the Scaled Agile Framework community

Community.ScaledAgileAcademy.com

© 2008 - 2013 Scaled Agile, Inc. and Leffingwell, LLC. All rights reserved.

61