Introduction to Scaled Agile Framework®

How to plan work across multiple teams?

As a project manager/product manager/business manager, I want to track

overall progress. How can I do that?

How can we achieve coordination among Teams working on a Large Product

Backlog?

How to maintain Code quality?

Problems/Challenges faced by Organizations?

Release Planning

Scrum of Scrum

Community of Practices

Product Backlog Refinement

Integrated Scrum Planning

Current Scaling Practices

You have a blank slate.

Figure out what works for you.

Scaling – A Stark Choice

Scrum is to Team

As

SAFe is to Enterprise

A proven, publicly-facing framework for applying Lean and Agile

practices at enterprise scale

The three Layers

Portfolio

program

Teams

• Ability to execute large program with reasonable output

• xP Practices

• Test First approach

• Transparency across all three layers Team, Program & Portfolio

• Release Planning

• Scrum of Scrum

Alignment Transparency

Program Execution

Code Quality

SAFe Core Values

SAFe Roots

Scrum

Works great. Clear team roles, Ceremonies. Let’s Sprint.

Extreme Programming

Continuous Integration, Test First, Spikes, Refactoring.

Extremely useful. Let’s Program with it.

Kanban

Clear thinking on flow, demand management and limiting Work in Process.

Let’s limit WIP.

Agile

Respect for people

Lean Leaders

Kaizen

Lean

Take an economic view

Actively manage queues

Understand and exploit variability

Reduce batch sizes

Apply WIP constraints

Control flow under uncertainty:

cadence and synchronization

Get feedback as fast as possible

Decentralize control

Product Development Flow

Don Reinertsen

Principles of Product Development

Flow

Centralized strategy, decentralized execution

Kanban systems provide portfolio visibility and WIP limits

Value description via Business and Architectural Epics

Scale to the Portfolio

Funnel Review AnalysisPortfolio Backlog

Implementation

Self-organizing, self-managing team-of-agile-teams

Typical size 50-120 Individuals

Provides 5-12 weeks of planning

Synchronizes Sprints & PIs

Deliver a system level solution

Agile Release Train

Working, system increments every two weeks

Aligned to a common mission via a single backlog

Face-to-face release planning cadence for collaboration, alignment,

synchronization, and assessment

Scale to the Program Level

RTE is the Chief Scrum Master

Facilitates Program & Release level process & activities

Facilitates Scrum of Scrums

Ensures Transparency at Program level

Resolves Impediments

Ensures collaboration within & across the train

Release Train Engineer (RTE)

Develop on Cadence Release on Demand

Release on Demand

Major Release Customer UpgradeCustomer Preview

Major Release

New Feature

Develop on Cadence

PI PI PI PI PI

Working Software every two weeks

Empowered, self-organizing, self-managing cross-functional teams

Scrum project management and XP-inspired technical practices

Value delivery via User Stories

Nothing Beats an Agile Team

Product Management

Market Facing

Collocated with Business

Own Vision, Road map, ROI, Program Backlog

Focus on Program Increment & Release

Accept Features

Product Owner

Team Facing

Collocated with the team

Own & Refine Team Backlog

Focus on Sprint Goals

Accept Stories

Product Management vs Product owner

Scrum Responsibilities

• Remove Impediments

• Helps assure that the team follows rules of Scrum & SAFe

• Facilitates teams continuous improvement

Release Train Responsibilities

• Coordinating with other Scrum Teams, System Teams

• Facilitate preparation of Release planning, Inspect & Adapt sessions

• Coordinate with other Scrum Masters in Scrum of Scrums

Scrum Master in SAFe

Why would a highly successful financial services company make a fast and

aggressive move from their existing development process to the Scaled Agile

Framework?

Case Study: SEI Global Wealth Services

SEI is a leading provider of outsourced asset management, investment

operations solutions for corporations, financial institutions

Their core system was written in the 1970s

In 2006 they began building a highly configurable next generation platform,

the SEI Wealth Platform,

• which would allow them to more quickly extend the system’s functionality

• serve more markets, lower their processing costs, and maintain their existing

quality standards.

Company Background

Greatest challenge was the magnitude of building a complex global securities

accounting and trading system pursuing multiple market segments

The evolving needs of multiple markets, the research and development was

complex and release cycles were long. “They were needed to deliver more

functionality faster to increase sales.”

That deployment took six months to release and added 200 features across

multiple market segments.

When they surveyed their stakeholders, they realized there wasn’t enough

value for their market.”

The Challenge

SEI knew they needed to move to an enterprise agile delivery model which

aligned their portfolio and programs.

They came upon the Scaled Agile Framework. brought in Dean Leffingwell

and for an on-site, four-day leadership workshop

• In the first two days, they learned about lean principles, product development

flow, agile practices, and the nuts and bolts of the Scaled Agile Framework

• On the third day, they applied it in their context and designed the

organizational changes needed to support the adoption of SAFe”

• “On the morning of the fourth day of the workshop, their Leadership Team

divided into three scrum teams to plan the adoption of SAFe.

A Solution for Scaling

By the end of 4th day, they had a plan: They were launching their first Agile Release Train in two weeks.”

• “They did sprint planning at the start of each sprint, held daily scrums, ran demos, and conducted retrospectives, also held scrum of scrums to synchronize with the other team

• Teams were formed, Scrum Masters and Product Owners were identified, and the key stakeholders were gathered”

• On October 1st and 2nd, all teams were trained together at one time by a single instructor in SAFe ScrumXP

• On October 3rd and 4th, one hundred team members and stakeholders gathered for their first Release Planning Meeting

• It ended in success: the teams had a clear set of prioritized, committed objectives. “Teams finally understood they were empowered

Two Weeks to Launch

What do you think of the SAFe model?

What experience have you had with scaling?

Would this model work for you?

Questions?