Three minutes to understand SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework)

1. SAFe overview

SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) is an agile development framework for large enterprises, designed to coordinate the collaborative work of multiple teams and departments to achieve efficient software development and delivery. The following is a brief introduction and summary of the SAFe framework:

The SAFe framework includes the following four levels:

• Portfolio level: At this level, managers determine the strategy and goals of the company and are responsible for managing the allocation of funds and resources across the organization.
• Program layer: At this level, multiple teams collaborate to develop one or more products to form an "Agile Release Train".
• Team layer: At this level, each team is responsible for completing a specific function or task and integrating it into the product.
• Individual layer: At this level, individuals are responsible for implementing specific tasks and functions in a team.

The core ideas of the SAFe framework include:

• Agile thinking: The SAFe framework is built on agile thinking, including people-oriented, continuous delivery, iterative and incremental development, etc.
• Systems Thinking: The SAFe framework encourages teams and organizations to think holistically, breaking down complex systems into smaller, more manageable pieces.
• Continuous Improvement: The SAFe framework encourages teams and organizations to continuously reflect and improve their working methods and processes.
  

Some important concepts in the SAFe framework include:

• Agile Release Train (ART): ART is a core concept in the SAFe framework. It is an agile team composed of multiple teams that jointly develop and deliver one or more products.
• PI Planning: PI Planning is an important activity in the SAFe framework, which aims to coordinate the planning and development work of multiple teams to ensure that the entire organization can deliver high-quality products during each Program Increment.
• Feature: In the SAFe framework, Feature refers to an independent, complete, and verifiable business value, which is the basic unit of product development.
• Epic: An Epic is a large, cross-departmental collection of features that needs to be broken down into smaller features and story points for implementation.

2. The essence of SAFe

SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) is a widely used agile development framework. The essence of the SAFe framework is that it provides a way to coordinate large-scale agile development and emphasizes the core principles of agile development such as value orientation, continuous integration and continuous delivery. . Its complete framework can help teams better implement agile development and improve team efficiency and quality. Its essence lies in:

• Ability to coordinate large-scale agile development: The SAFe framework provides a way to coordinate multiple teams, multiple projects, and multiple departments, making large-scale agile development feasible. It provides a standardized process, roles and terminology that makes collaboration between different teams easier.

• Emphasis on value orientation: The SAFe framework always emphasizes value orientation and puts customer value at the top. It helps the team understand customer needs through value stream analysis and value stream management, while ensuring that the features developed by the team are of value.

• Emphasis on continuous integration and continuous delivery: The SAFe framework supports the core principles of agile development, including continuous integration and continuous delivery. It encourages teams to integrate code and tests frequently during development, enabling teams to detect and resolve issues quickly and features to be delivered to customers quickly.

• Provide a complete framework: SAFe framework is not just a methodology, it is a complete set of framework, including organizational structure, roles and responsibilities, processes, tools and methods, etc. This complete framework can help teams better implement agile development, thereby improving team efficiency and quality.

3. The similarities and differences between SAFe and SCRUM agile process

Both SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) and Scrum are agile development process methods, and they have some similarities and differences.

Same point:

• Both emphasize teamwork and iterative development.
• Both emphasize rapid adaptation to customer needs in a changing and uncertain environment.
• Both emphasize continuous integration and self-organizing teams.

the difference:

• The scope of application is different: the SAFe framework is suitable for large-scale enterprise-level application development, while Scrum is suitable for application development of small and medium-sized teams.
• Different team organization methods: SAFe framework adopts a hierarchical organizational structure, including organizational layer, value stream layer, program layer and team layer; while Scrum is a method based on team self-organization without a fixed organizational structure.
• Different roles: SAFe framework includes multiple roles, such as product manager, product owner, system architect, etc.; while Scrum has only three roles: Scrum Master, product owner and development team.
• Different processes and documents: The SAFe framework is more detailed and richer than Scrum in terms of processes and documents. The SAFe framework provides a complete development process, tools and methods, and also includes detailed documents, such as features, sprint plans, sprint reviews, requirements documents, etc.; while Scrum only has simple processes and documents, such as product backlog, sprint Planning and sprint retrospectives, etc.

Both SAFe framework and Scrum are agile development process methods, they have similarities and differences. SAFe is suitable for large-scale enterprise-level application development, using a hierarchical organizational structure, multiple roles, and detailed processes and documents; while Scrum is suitable for application development in small and medium teams, using team self-organization, simple processes and document. Which method to choose should be decided according to actual needs and project scale.

4. The complete development process, tools and methods of the SAFe framework

The SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) framework is a large-scale agile development framework, which includes multiple layers and components, provides a complete, reusable development process, and aims to help organizations deliver high-level results in a more coordinated manner. quality software products. The following is a detailed elaboration of the complete development process, tools and methods of the SAFe framework.

• Establishing the Organizational Level (The Organizational Level): The first step of the SAFe framework is to establish the organizational level, which refers to the top-level management of the entire enterprise or organization, which provides leadership, financial and strategic direction for the entire framework. At this level, it is often necessary to define the organization's vision, mission, and values, and to define a corporate strategy and product roadmap.

• Establish the value stream level (The Value Stream Level): Below the organizational level is the value stream level, which refers to a series of related value delivery activities, including product management, demand analysis, development, testing, and release. At this level, all value streams and value processes within the value stream need to be identified, and corresponding roles, owners, and processes defined for each process.

• Establish the program level (The Program Level): The program level refers to multiple agile teams across teams working together to deliver a common product or solution. At this level, a Value Stream Solution needs to be created and coordinated by a key team. In the program layer, it is usually necessary to develop a feature roadmap (Feature Roadmap) and make plans for each sprint (Sprint).

• Establish the Team Level: The Team Level refers to a single agile team responsible for implementing specific requirements and developing functionality. At this level, Scrum methods are usually required, including daily stand-up meetings, Sprint retrospectives, and Sprint planning. In addition, the team layer also needs to adopt XP (Extreme Programming) methods, such as test-driven development, continuous integration, etc.

Adoption of tools and methodologies: The SAFe framework provides tools and methodologies to help organizations achieve agile development. These tools and methods include:

• Agile Release Train: It is a cross-team agile development process consisting of multiple agile teams that collaborate to achieve a common goal.

• PI Planning: It is a two-day event designed to help the entire team collaboratively develop a product within a specific time period

The following is a detailed description of the three core concepts of SAFe, Feature Roadmap, Agile Release Train, and PI Planning.

• Feature Roadmap The
  Feature Roadmap is a feature roadmap built step-by-step, which describes all the features that need to be delivered within a time frame, and their delivery schedule. In the SAFe framework, a feature refers to an independent, complete, and verifiable business value. The Feature Roadmap is used to support feature planning across teams and provide the organization with an overall feature view.
  When building a Feature Roadmap, you need to start with the top-level organization, determine the organization's strategy and product vision, and then translate it into a list of features. Next, features need to be prioritized and assigned to different releases and time frames to support continuous feature development and delivery.

The Feature Roadmap is an important concept in the SAFe framework, which is used to coordinate the feature planning of multiple teams and provide a feature view of the entire organization. The Feature Roadmap is a feature roadmap built step by step, which describes all the features that need to be delivered within a time frame, and their delivery schedule. In the SAFe framework, a feature refers to an independent, complete, and verifiable business value.

Below is an example to illustrate the use of Feature Roadmap.

Suppose we are an e-commerce company and we decide to use the SAFe framework to develop our e-commerce platform. First, we need to determine our product vision and strategic goals, for example, "to become a world-leading e-commerce platform, providing the best shopping experience and service".

Next, we need to translate this strategic goal into a list of actionable features. For example, our feature list might include:

Shopping cart functionality: Allow users to add multiple items to the shopping cart and check out together.

Payment system: Provide multiple payment methods and ensure a secure payment process.

Member Center: Allow users to register as members and provide personalized recommendation services and discounts.

Logistics Tracking: Allow users to track their orders and provide real-time logistics information.

Social Media Features: Allow users to share their shopping experiences and interact with other users.

Next, we need to prioritize these features and assign them to different releases and timeframes. For example, we can assign the shopping cart function and payment system function to the first PI (Program Increment), the member center and logistics tracking function to the second PI, and the social media function to the third PI.

When formulating the Feature Roadmap, we also need to take into account the resources and capabilities of different teams. For example, we can assign the shopping cart function to the front-end development team, the payment system to the back-end development team, the member center to the personalized recommendation team, and so on.

Through the Feature Roadmap, we can realize the collaborative development of multiple teams, making the development process of the entire e-commerce platform more coordinated and efficient. At the same time, Feature Roadmap can also help us ensure that the developed features are valuable and in line with our strategic goals.

• Agile Release Train

Agile Release Train (ART) is a cross-team agile development process, which consists of multiple agile teams that work together to achieve a common goal. ART is a collection of teams coordinated on schedules and releases with the goal of providing customers and stakeholders with a predictable delivery cycle.

The schedule of ART is usually determined by the PI (Program Increment) plan, which is a 12-week development cycle to support cross-team collaborative planning. All teams in ART must follow a common development process and norms, including synchronized sprint planning, collaborative development, continuous integration, system demonstrations and retrospectives, etc.
ART is at the heart of the SAFe framework, providing a reusable, predictable delivery methodology that enables teams to quickly adapt to changing market needs.

Suppose a company is developing an e-commerce platform that requires the collaborative development of multiple teams. In order to achieve efficient collaborative development and delivery, the company decided to adopt the SAFe framework and organize all relevant teams into an Agile Release Train (ART).

In this ART, the duration of each Program Increment (PI) is 12 weeks. Before the start of each PI, all teams will participate in a PI Planning event to determine the goals and plans for the PI period.

In this example, ART includes the following four teams:

• Web team: Responsible for developing and maintaining the front-end of the e-commerce platform, including web design, interaction design, and front-end development.

• API team: Responsible for developing and maintaining the API interface of the e-commerce platform, including back-end development, database design, etc.

• Mobile team: Responsible for developing and maintaining mobile applications for e-commerce platforms, including iOS and Android platforms.

• Testing team: Responsible for various types of testing, including automated testing, manual testing, performance testing, etc.

During each PI, each team will complete some specific features and user stories. Within each team, they will use the Scrum framework for agile development, including activities such as Daily Scrum, Sprint Planning, Sprint Review, and Sprint Retrospective.

At the ART level, the work of all teams will be coordinated in PI Planning activities to ensure that the entire platform can deliver high-quality software products on time within each PI period. At the same time, ART also conducts activities such as system demonstration, system integration and system verification on a regular basis to ensure that the work of each team can be integrated and delivered smoothly.

• PI Planning

PI Planning is a two-day event involving the entire ART team, designed to help the entire team collaborate on product and feature development plans within a specific time period. PI Planning is very important in the SAFe framework because it provides the team with a unified, collaborative view of planning.

During PI Planning, the team will come together to assess the current state, review the feature list, and determine the goals for the next PI. The team will formulate a feasible development plan based on the current business needs and vision, and assign the plan to different teams.

During the PI Planning event, all teams participate in a two-day meeting. The focus of the day one meeting was to define the goals and milestones of ART, as well as to identify the contributions and plans of each team. During this process, the team will formulate a PI Objectives, which is the specific goals and plans that they hope to accomplish during the PI period.

For example, in the above example, the PI Objectives of the front-end team may be to implement some new UI effects and optimize user experience, the PI Objectives of the back-end team may be to implement some new data processing and query functions, and the PI Objectives of the mobile team It may be to implement some new mobile features and improve application performance.

The second day's meeting focuses on finalizing the team's iteration plan and assignment of tasks. During this process, the team will develop a detailed iteration plan, including the specific User Story and tasks that need to be completed during the iteration, as well as the work allocation and time arrangement among team members.

For example, in this example, the front-end team's iteration plan might include implementing a new shopping cart feature and a product detail page, the back-end team's iteration plan might include implementing a new user login and data backup feature, and the mobile team's Iteration planning might include implementing a new notification push and application performance optimizations.

Through PI Planning activities, all teams can clearly understand the goals and plans of ART, as well as their respective contributions and task assignments.