Using agile in a scaled up mode is yet another way which can help organizations build and constantly improve upon large and complex products and services.
By definition, large and complex products require cross-functional teams of engineers working for long durations.
Use of agile in a scaled up mode also necessitates the right kind of culture to be instilled and the right kind of roles and reporting to be put in place.
The cultural challenges that ail organizations trying to use agile also ail those trying to use scaled up agile, in fact far more severely.
There are many scaled frameworks that have been proposed and are available for an organization to explore. Some of the scaled agile frameworks are:
The foundational elements in SAFe include:
By definition, large and complex products require cross-functional teams of engineers working for long durations.
Use of agile in a scaled up mode also necessitates the right kind of culture to be instilled and the right kind of roles and reporting to be put in place.
The cultural challenges that ail organizations trying to use agile also ail those trying to use scaled up agile, in fact far more severely.
There are many scaled frameworks that have been proposed and are available for an organization to explore. Some of the scaled agile frameworks are:
- SAFe (scaled agile framework)
- Scrum of scrums
- IXP (Industrial eXtreme Programming)
- Nexus
- Nexus+
- DAD (Disciplined Agile Delivery)
- LeSS (Large Scale Scrum)
Out of the above, SAFe currently appears to the most popular one. The support ecosystem which includes the availability of reference material, consultants, training, certifications, etc. around SAFe has helped greatly in this cause.
SAFe 4.0 for Lean Sotware and Systems Enginering is the most latest version of SAFe that is available to interested organizations.
Versin 4.0 was released in Jan 2016. The previous version, version 3.0, is slated to have its end of life in Dec 2016.
Versin 4.0 was released in Jan 2016. The previous version, version 3.0, is slated to have its end of life in Dec 2016.
SAFe is purportedly based on and leverages the following frameworks:
- Scrum
- XP
- Lean
SAFe defines the following levels, where each level builds upon the levels below and serves a higher purpose from a business point of view.
- Team (iterations)
- Program (program increments, agile release trains)
- Value Stream (lins of businss, typically)
- Portfolio (capital allocation decisions)
- Lean agile leaders
- Communities of practice
- Core values
- Lean agile mindset
- SAFe principles
- Implementing 1-2-3
