The Project Manager's Guide to Mastering Agile: Principles and Practices for an Adaptive Approach

15 Scaled Agile Framework

THE SCALED AGILE FRAMEWORK (SAFe), developed by Dean Leffingwell, is “an interactive knowledge base for implementing Agile practices at enterprise scale.”¹ Figure 15.1 shows a high-level overview of the Scaled Agile Framework.

SAFe is composed of three major levels²:

1. Portfolio Layer—The Portfolio Layer is the highest and most strategic layer in the Scaled Agile Framework where programs are aligned to the company's business strategy and investment intent.
2. Program Layer—The Scaled Agile Framework recognizes the need to align and integrate the efforts of multiple teams that are engaged in large, complex enterprise-level development efforts to create larger value to serve the needs of the enterprise and its stakeholders.
3. Team Layer—The Team Layer forms the foundation of the Scaled Agile Framework and is where the fundamental design, build test activities are performed to fulfill the development requirements for each major area of business.

A high-level summary of each of the levels in the Scaled Agile Framework is described in more detail in the following sections. Please refer to the SAFe website for more details on this framework: http://scaledAgileframework.com/

FIGURE 15.1 Scaled Agile Framework

TEAM LEVEL

At a team level, the SAFe uses standard agile principles and practices based on Scrum; however, the SAFe recognizes that implementing an agile development ...