An Introduction to Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
James Chan
Agile Management
CA Technologies
Director, ITBM Technical Sales
AMX10E
Michelle Templeton
CA Technologies
Senior Principal Consultant, ITBM Technical Sales
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For Informational Purposes Only
© 2015 CA. All rights reserved. All trademarks referenced herein belong to their respective companies.
The content provided in this CA World 2015 presentation is intended for informational purposes only and does not form any type of warranty. The information provided by a CA partner and/or CA customer has not been reviewed for accuracy by CA.
Terms of this Presentation
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Abstract
To compete in today’s application economy, organizations have adopted agile execution techniques. But is that enough? Learn about SAFe and how to leverage this methodology to elevate your agile teams to deliver quality outcomes and align at the enterprise level.
James Chan
CA Technologies
Director, ITBM Technical Sales
4 © 2015 CA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.@CAWORLD #CAWORLD
Agenda
THE APPLICATION ECONOMY AS A DISRUPTER
FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES OF SCALED AGILE FRAMEWORK
INTRODUCING THE SCALED AGILE FRAMEWORK
GETTING A FEEL FOR RELEASE PLANNING
1
2
3
4
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS4
5 © 2015 CA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.@CAWORLD #CAWORLDSource: Anish Bhimani: A Leader in Risk Management at http://engineering.cmu.edu/alumni/profiles/2013/bhimani_jpmorgan_chase.html
6 © 2015 CA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.@CAWORLD #CAWORLD
Experience is everything.In business and in life, we choose the things we like, seeking them out over and over again. The things we don’t enjoy we avoid like the plague.
Experience drives our decisions. Of course, that’s never been more true than in the application economy. Today’s customers are empowered and have more choices than ever.
Providing a superior customer experience is a simple concept, yet deceptively difficult to execute.
The Bottom Line: Customer Experience is THE prime differentiator in business today.
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SCRUM
KANBAN
Product Backlog
Sprint Backlog Sprint Review Meeting
Release
Sprint 2 Weeks
Sprint Burn DownDaily Meetings
Stack of Requirements
Ready to Develop Development Testing/Acceptance Customer
Done Done Done
Agile 101: Multiple Approaches/Methodologies
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Speed Alone is Not Enough
Even with agile development providing engineering optimization, there are still challenges insuring that the right investments are being chosen to begin with.
37%Only 37% of product managers stated their efforts are aligned with their firm’s business strategy.
Source: Actuation Consulting 2015 Study of Product Team Performance
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Focus on Speed Alone Did Not Yield the Intended Results
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The Scaled Agile Framework is a proven, public-facing framework for applying Learn and Agile practices at enterprise scale
The Scaled Agile Framework® (SAFe)
Synchronize 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. Code Quality
2. Program Execution
3. Alignment
4. Transparency
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Agile
Systems
Engineering
Lean Product
Development
Lean Thinking
2012 2013 2014
2.03.0
1.0
Field Experience at Enterprise Scale
4.0
2015
Leffingwell et al. © 2015 Scaled Agile, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The SAFe® Journey
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Quick Overview of What SAFe is
Scaled Agile Framework – SAFe
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Agenda
THE APPLICATION ECONOMY AS A DISRUPTER
FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES OF SCALED AGILE FRAMEWORK
INTRODUCING THE SCALED AGILE FRAMEWORK
GETTING A FEEL FOR RELEASE PLANNING
1
2
3
4
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS4
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Foundations of the Scaled Agile Framework®Values, Principles, Practices, Implementation
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We Thought We’d be Programming Like This:
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But Sometimes it Feels Like This:
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Problems
discovered
too lateNo way to
improve
systematically
Hard to
manage
distributed
teams
Late
delivery
Too little
visibility
Too early
commitment
to a design
that didn’t
work
Poor
morale
Massive
growth in
complexity
Phase gate
SDLC isn't
helping
reduce riskUnder-
estimated
dependencies
And Our Retrospectives Read Like This:
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The Management Challenge
It is not enough that management commit themselves to quality and productivity, they must know what it is they must do.
Such a responsibility cannot be delegated.
—W. Edwards Deming
“…and if you can’t come, send no one” —Vignette from Out of the Crisis, Deming,1986
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What it is They Must Do
Embrace Lean-Agile Values
Apply Lean-Agile Principles
Implement Lean-Agile Practices
Lead the Implementation
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Embrace Lean-Agile Values
LEADERSHIP
Res
pe
ct f
or
pe
op
le a
nd
cu
ltu
re
Flo
w
Inn
ova
tio
n
Rel
entl
ess
imp
rove
me
nt
VALUE
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Value in the Shortest Sustainable Lead Time
Achieve the sustainably shortest lead time with– Best quality and value to
people and society
– High morale, safety, customer delight
LEADERSHIP
Res
pec
t fo
rp
eop
le a
nd
cu
ltu
re
Flo
w
Inn
ova
tio
n
Rel
entl
ess
imp
rove
men
t
VALUE
There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company.
—Sam Walton
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Agenda
THE APPLICATION ECONOMY AS A DISRUPTER
FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES OF SCALED AGILE FRAMEWORK
INTRODUCING THE SCALED AGILE FRAMEWORK
GETTING A FEEL FOR RELEASE PLANNING
1
2
3
4
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS4
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Nothing Beats an Agile Team
Cross-functional Agile Teams deliver working software every two weeks
Scrum roles and project management practices, XP-inspired technical practices; Kanban for flow
ScrumXP Kanban
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Except a Team of Agile Teams
Cross-functional teams-of-agile-teams deliver working system increments every two weeks
Operate with common Vision, architecture and UX guidance
Collaborate, align, and adapt with face-to-face planning and retrospectives
30 © 2015 CA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.@CAWORLD #CAWORLD
Agenda
THE APPLICATION ECONOMY AS A DISRUPTER
FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES OF SCALED AGILE FRAMEWORK
INTRODUCING THE SCALED AGILE FRAMEWORK
GETTING A FEEL FOR RELEASE PLANNING
1
2
3
4
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS4
31 © 2015 CA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.@CAWORLD #CAWORLD
Release Planning
Two days every 8–12 weeks
Everyone attends in person if at all possible
Product Management owns feature priorities
Development team owns story-planning and high-level estimates
Architects and UX folks work as intermediaries for governance, interfaces, and dependencies
Cadence-based Release Planning meetings are the pacemaker of the agile enterprise
Result: A committed set of program objectives for the next PI
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Sample Day 1 Agenda
8:00
9:00
9:0010:30
1:004:00
5:006:00
10:3011:30
4:005:00
11:301:00
State of the business and upcoming objectives
Vision and prioritized features
Architecture, common frameworks, etc. Agile tooling, engineering practices, etc.
Facilitator explains planning process
Teams present draft plans, risks, and impediments
Teams develop draft plans and identify risks and impediments
Architects and Product Managers circulate
Adjustments made based on challenges, risks, and impediments
1 2 3 4
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Sample Day 2 Agenda
8:009:00
9:0011:00
11:001:00
Planning adjustments made based on previous day’s management meeting
Teams present final plans, risks, and impediments
Teams develop final plans and refine risks and impediments Business Owners circulate and assign business value to team
objectives
2:00
2:15
1:002:00
Remaining program-level risks are discussed and ROAMed
Team and program confidence vote
After Commitment
2:15???
If necessary, planning continues until commitment is achieved
Retrospective Moving Forward Final Instructions
!
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4
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Content Preparation
Executive BriefingState of the business and upcoming objectives
Product Vision Briefing(s) Vision and top 10 features
Architectural Vision Briefing Vision for architecture, new architectural epics, common frameworks, etc.
Development ContextChanges to standard practices, new tools and techniques, etc.
In preparation for release planning, leadership creates a series of briefings to set context
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Before Release Planning: The Cadence
Program Level Calendar:
Release Planning Meetings
PI Demos
Inspect and adapt Workshops
Team Level Calendar:
Sprint Planning Meetings
Sprint Demos
Sprint Retrospectives
The program planning calendar can be set for a year in advance
Reprinted by Permission of Yahoo!
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The Release Planning Process
Input: Vision and Top Ten features Output: PI Objectives and Program Board
Top 10 features
Vision
Team A PI Objectives
Team B PI Objectives
Team C PI Objectives Team J PI
Objectives
Program PI Objectives
...
Program Board
Pro
gram
Bac
klog
NFRs
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Sample Day 1 Agenda
8:00
9:00
9:0010:30
1:004:00
5:006:00
10:3011:30
4:005:00
11:301:00
State of the business and upcoming objectives
Vision and prioritized features
Architecture, common frameworks, etc. Agile tooling, engineering practices, etc.
Facilitator explains planning process
Teams present draft plans, risks, and impediments
Teams develop draft plans and identify risks and impediments
Architects and Product Managers circulate
Adjustments made based on challenges, risks, and impediments
1 2 3 4
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Business Context
There is no prescribed format, but some options include:
The key portfolio priorities are communicated
The organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) are analyzed
To kick off Release Planning, executive leadership shares the state of the business and upcoming objectives
Alex Sun, CEO, Mitchell International Reprinted by Permission of Mitchell International
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Product / Solution Vision
Product Management presents the vision and the high priority features
Reprinted by Permission of TradeStation TechnologiesReprinted by Permission of Discount Tire Corporation
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Architecture, UX, and Dev Practices
Architecture, UX, and Development Practices are first class citizens in release planning, not afterthoughts!
A System Architect presents the vision for architecture, new Architecture Epics, and common frameworks
Development management may provide updates on Agile tooling and improvements in engineering practices
UX professionals provide user experience guidance
Reprinted by Permission of Nordstrom
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Planning Context: Setting the Stage
The facilitator sets a shared understanding of the planning process and deliverables for the planning process
Walkthrough of:
Team planning process
Planning acceptance criteria
Program Board
Each team had the same deliverables:
An objectives sheet
One sheet per sprint for stories
One risk sheet for risks and impediments
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Team Breakout #1
In breakouts, each team breaks down their features into user stories which are estimated and placed into Sprints
There is a lot of back and forth between the teams, mostly understanding and minimizing dependencies
Photos Reprinted by Permission of TradeStation Technologies
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Team Breakout #1: Color Coding
We can visually see that some teams may have significant backlog items dedicated to things like maintenance
Yello
w
Purple
Red/
PinkGreen
Orang
e
= Risks and Dependencies
= Dev Infrastructure / Improvement Stories
= User Stories
= Maintenance
= Spikes
Red/
Pink= Addressed Risks and
Dependencies
We color code the backlog items to give visibility into the investments
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Team Breakout #1: Team Deliverables
Sprint 1.1 Sprint 1.2 Sprint 1.3 Sprint 1.4 Sprint 1.5
PI OBJECTIVES RISKS
Velocity: 34Load: 30
Velocity: 34Load: 30
Velocity: 34Load: 30
Velocity: 34Load: 30
Velocity: 34Load: 0
Objectives /Business Value1. ….2. ….3. ….
Stretch Objectives1. ….
IP Sprint
X
For velocity, use historic information or 8 x (number
of developers + testers)
Be sure to adjust for holidays and vacation.
Velocity (Capacity): ____
Load: ____
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Sprint 1.1 Sprint 1.2 Sprint 1.3 Sprint 1.4Sprint1.5
(IP)Milestones/
Events
Unicorns
Dolphins
Bears
Iguanas
Blue = FeaturesRed String = A dependency requiring stories or other dependencies to be completed before the feature can be completed
= Significant Dependency
Antelope
Tarantulas
Eagles
Needs UX Help
Needs Sys Arch Help
Orang
e=
Milestone/ Event
PI 2 >>>
Red/
Pink
Program Plan Reflects Feature Delivery, Dependencies and Milestones
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Align to a Mission with PI Objectives
Team’s PI Objectives:
They often will map directly to the features in the backlog ... and they sometimes may not. For example:
aggregation of a set of features stated in more concise terms
a milestone like trade show demo
an architectural feature?
a major refactoring
Objectives are brief summaries in business terms of what each team intends to deliver in the upcoming PI
Objectives for PI 1
• Structured locations and validation of locations
• Build and demonstrate a proof of concept for context images
• Implement negative triangulation by: tags, companies, and people
• Speed up indexing by 50%• Index 1.2 billion more web pages• Extract and build URL abstracts
———Stretch Objectives———
• Fuzzy search by full name
• Improve tag quality to 80% relevance
Bus. Value
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Scrum of Scrums
The hourly scrum of scrums checkpoint helps keep teams on track and facilitates early identification of risks
Hourly Scrum of Scrums Planning Checkpoint:
Keeps teams on track with hourly planning milestones
Helps drive out risks, impediments, and dependencies
Simple Planning Radiators
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Reprinted by Permission of TradeStation Technologies
Draft Plan Review Agenda:
1. Velocity (Capacity) and Load
2. Plan Flow: Describe what will be done and when
3. Draft PI Objectives
4. Program risks, impediments, and Program Board dependencies
Draft Plan Review
Plans are peer-reviewed by all teams
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Management Review & Problem Solving
Common Questions During the Managers Review:
What did we just learn?
Where do we need to adjust Vision? Scope? Resources?
Where are the bottlenecks?
What sacred features must be sacrificed?
What decisions must we make between now and tomorrow to address these issues?
Reprinted by Permission of Hybris Software
At Day 1 end, management meets to make adjustments to scope and objectives based on the day’s planning
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Sample Day 2 Agenda
8:009:00
9:0011:00
11:001:00
Planning adjustments made based on previous day’s management meeting
Teams present final plans, risks, and impediments
Teams develop final plans and refine risks and impediments Business Owners circulate and assign business value to team
objectives
2:00
2:15
1:002:00
Remaining program-level risks are discussed and ROAMed
Team and program confidence vote
After Commitment
2:15???
If necessary, planning continues until commitment is achieved
Retrospective Moving Forward Final Instructions
!
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4
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Planning Adjustments
Possible Changes:
Business priorities
Adjustment to plan
Changes to scope
Movement of resources
Reprinted by Permission of TradeStation Technologies
Reprinted by Permission of Discount Tire Company
Based on the previous day’s Management Review and Problem Solving meeting, adjustments are discussed
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Team Breakout #2
In the second team breakout, business owners circulate and assign business value to release objectives (1–10)
Teams finalize the Program Increment plan
Teams also consolidate program risks, impediments, and dependencies
Stretch objectives provide the capacity and guard band needed to increase cadence-based delivery reliability
Based on new knowledge (and a good night’s sleep), teams work to create their final plans
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SMART Team and Program PI Objectives
SMART Objectives are:
Specific — State the intended outcome as simply, concisely, and explicitly as possible. Try starting with an action verb.
Measurable — It should be clear what a team needs to do to achieve the objective. The measures may be descriptive, hit/miss, or a sliding scale.
Achievable — It should be within the team’s control and influence.
Realistic — Recognize factors which cannot be controlled. Avoid making happy path assumptions.
Time-based — The objectives should be scoped to fit within the PI.
Well-written objectives can focus a team like a laser. The SMART framework can help.
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More on Stretch Objectives
Stretch Objectives do count in velocity/capacity:They aren’t things teams do in case they end up with extra time
Stretch Objectives are tools for commitment:
– If a team has low confidence in meeting a PI Objective which involves factors beyond their control, encourage them to move it to a Stretch Objective
– If there are many unknowns which are spiked in earlier Sprints which may dramatically change estimates, move those to Stretch Objectives
Central control of strategy; decentralized control of execution. Stretch objectives provide reliability guard band.
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Final Plan Review
Teams and Business Owners peer-review all final plans
Final Plan Review Agenda:
1. Changes to velocity and load
2. Final PI objectives with business value
3. Program risks, impediments, and Program Feature Board dependencies
4. Q&AReprinted by Permission of SEI Global Wealth Services
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Building the Final Plan
Final plans are reviewed by all teams
Business Owners are asked whether they accept the plan
If so, the team’s plan and program risk sheet is brought to the front of the room
If not, the plans stay in place and the team continues planning after the review
Reprinted by Permission of Discount Tire Corporation
Final plans are collected at the front of the room
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Addressing Program Risks
ROAMing Risks:
Resolved – has been addressed; no longer a concern
Owned – someone has taken responsibility
Accepted – nothing more can be done. If risk occurs, release may be compromised
Mitigated – team has plan to adjust as necessary
After all plans had been presented, remaining program risks and impediments are discussed and categorized
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Confidence Votes: Team and Program
“Fist of Five” confidence vote for hitting objectives:
1 = No confidence; will not happen
2 = Little confidence; probably will not happen
3 = Good confidence; the team should be able to meet the objectives
4 = High confidence; should happen
5 = Very high confidence; will happen
A Commitment with Two Parts
1. Teams agree to do everything in their power to meet the agreed-to objectives
2. In the event that fact patterns dictate that it is simply not achievable, teams agree to escalate immediately so that corrective action can be taken
After dependencies are resolved and risks are addressed, a confidence vote is taken at the team and program levels
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Plan Rework if Necessary
The Program Timebox
Just as the Sprint Planning Meeting is timeboxed, so is the Release Planning Meeting
Leaving the two day planning meeting without a committed plan is not an option. Teams stay to rework their plans and “ROAM” their risks and impediments
What happens if there is low confidence? Rework!
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Executing Strategy in an Agile Portfolio
Organize Agile Release Trains around Value Streams
Centralize strategy; decentralize execution
Empower decision makers with Lean-Agile budgeting
Provide portfolio visibility and WIP limits
Leverage objective metrics for governance and improvement
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CA PPM and Agile Landscape
Strategic Planning / Capital PlanningEnterprise Portfolio Planning / Enterprise Resource Planning
Governance
Hybrid
Enterprise Scale Agile and Agile Team Planning
Agile Execution
Agile Tools
CA PPM
ChecklistWaterfall
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Integrated Planning Regardless of Execution Mode
Business Case –Intake from the Business
Prioritization –making the right investment choices
Resource Planning &Annual Funding
Agile
Complex Projects
Check Lists
Prioritization and funding is very relevant in the enterprise… and CA PPM is valued for this
Traditional work execution is changing – bi-modal (more adaptive processes)
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For More Information
To learn more, please visit:
http://cainc.to/Nv2VOe
CA World ’15