Recently, a colleague of mine complained, “SAFe is so waterfally”. I’ve truly completed just a few waterfall initiatives and the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) just isn’t comparable. And but, most waterfall initiatives I’ve labored on have been much less onerous than SAFe!
The principle typically understood advantage of SAFe is coordinating a probably important variety of groups. Or is it? SAFe additionally offers a turnkey means of getting everybody in control on roles and duties, program administration, crew degree exercise, and far more.
Standing up a turnkey administration infrastructure could also be the actual purpose SAFe has been so broadly adopted.
And but, this ‘function’ is delivered through 13 totally different certifications. Simply the product proprietor cert has properly over 150 slides of coaching materials. That ensures tons of additional fluff, a few of it dangerous; extra on that beneath. To some dev retailers, the price of all SAFe’s baggage will outweigh its profit.
There may be persistent criticism that SAFe isn’t agile. That’s properly based given SAFe’s predilection for intensive wrapping round each final thing, nevertheless it’s no less than incremental. Incremental improvement consists of constructing in small chunks and studying alongside the best way.
Strip away most of the trappings of Agile, and being incremental is a major a part of its profit.
The Agile camp wouldn’t have vilified SAFe if it have been as a substitute named the Scaled Incremental Framework, however that wouldn’t have been good advertising and marketing. Incremental however deliberate improvement is extraordinarily widespread and unquestioned: that’s why we’ve roadmaps!
There may be an argument that SAFe allows extra agility at a systemic degree, thus bettering strategic execution. SAFe does convey the next degree of agility to a store that hasn’t been agile earlier than. Nevertheless, I’ve a former skilled curiosity in software program processes and SAFe is by far…
