Why scaled agile frameworks exist and why you don't need them

neil_killickNeil Killick, 2017, All Rights Reserved
And why
you don’t
need them
Why scaled agile
frameworks exist

What are “scaled
agile frameworks”?

Frameworks which enable the organisation
and management of Agile Software
Development
across multiple teams and/or products,
programs, projects and technologies
— i.e. frameworks to enable Agile “at scale”

SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework)

Neil Killick, 2017, All Rights Reserved
LeSS (Large Scale Scrum) neil_killick

Nexus

Disciplined Agile Delivery

Scrum of Scrums neil_killick

Why do they exist?

They address three broad scenarios:
1. Business has one agile team, wants more 
2. Business has many non-agile teams, wants “Agile” 
3. Business has many agile teams, wants better results

Scenario 1
1 product (pipeline) 
1 Agile team
Straightforward,
works well
$$$$
$$$
$$$
$$$
$$
$
$
$ neil_killickNeil Killick, 2017, All Rights Reserved
Agile
team
Business
Feature ideas
Customer

OK, now let’s
SCALE!

$$$$
$$$
$$$
$$$
$$
$
$
$
Agile
team 1
Business
Feature ideas
1 product (pipeline) 
2 Agile teams 
Much complexity added
• decisions
• team performance
• coordination
• prioritisation
• autonomy/dependencies
• technology
Customer
Agile
team 2

neil_killick
Strategic
project idea 3
$$$$$$$
Strategic
project idea 1
$$$$$$$
Strategic
project idea 2
$$$$$$$
Portfolio/PMO
Strategic
project idea 4
$$$$$$$
$$$$
$$$
$$$
$$$
$$
$
$
$
Agile
team 1Business
Feature ideas
Customer 1
Agile
team 2
Customer 2
$$$$
$$$
$$$
$$$
$$
$
$
Feature ideas
Agile
team 3
Agile
team 4

Why you don’t
need them

1
You can experiment
with good ideas from
any framework

neil_killick
“We are uncovering better ways of
developing software…”

2
You don’t need to solve
all problems Agile
addresses in one go

Why might businesses want Agile?
Beat competitors to market (reduce risk of disruption and/or
losing first mover advantage)
Build right thing (reduce risk of over-investment in software which is
not being used or realising value)
Build thing right (reduce risk of gaining a poor reputation for
quality of product, and of spending time/$$ on failure demand and
technical debt)
Happier customers (reduce risk of losing customers, or gaining a
poor reputation for quality of service)

Why might businesses want Agile?
Tax benefits (increased potential for earlier and more frequent
capitalisation of released software as an asset) 
Early revenue/cost reduction benefits/ROI 
Operational efficiency (aka “get more done faster”; higher
capacity, throughput and revenue per worker) 
Happier shareholders (more products and features = more return) 
Happier workers (reduce risk of attrition)

Example - “We want Agile because we
want to beat our competitors to market”
OK
What currently stops you from
beating competitors to market?

Projects take at least 6 months, usually longer - we
don’t identify MVP’s or MMF’s - we define all scope
up front, then add to it as we discover more
Deploying is hard, takes time and can only be done
by one person, so we don’t do it often
We have lots of approval steps to release anything
to production, so we don’t do it often
Releasing is coupled with deploying - we can’t hide
unfinished features, so have to finish everything

OK, what can we do to
improve the situation?

Pick a project, and identify MVP’s/MMF’s for Release 1

Make it easier to deploy by establishing environments, automating
scripts where possible, cross-skilling team members, opening up
permissions, etc.

Make it easier to deploy by establishing environments,
automating scripts where possible, cross-skilling team members,
opening up permissions, etc.
De-couple releasing (shipping) and deploying - enable frequent
deployment of working product to a production-like environment
which stakeholders can see/test but is not the “live” product

Image credit: http://agadaenergyhealing.com/wp-content/
uploads/2017/02/focus2.jpeg

3
They are based on
established
enablers for agility

neil_killick
• Customer-focus — in how we decide and describe what we
build, and execute 
• Autonomous, self-organising “feature” teams — e2e delivery 
• Limit WIP, small batches — focus, deliver continuous value 
• Transparency — visualise work, create shared definitions,
understanding 
• Continuous feedback and improvement — experiment, learn,
remove wasteful steps to value creation, get better

What does “Agile
at scale” look like?

What can I do TODAY
to start enabling agile
at scale?

neil_killick

Thank you!
Any questions?

Why scaled agile frameworks exist and why you don't need them

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