Applied SAFe® Essential - Announcement - PEDCO

Press release 16/07

Zürich, July 19^th 2016. With the raising success of the usage of the Scaled Agile Framework, a lot of new companies are starting their journey into SAFe. Some of these companies like to start small with the essentials of SAFe; and may upgrade later to the big picture. In the last months, a new configuration of Applied SAFe®, based on the current discussion about Essential SAFe®, has been established and will be released mid-August for public use with the version 4.1 of Applied SAFe®.

We present today our newest capability ‘Applied SAFe Essential’.

Applied SAFe Essential allows to start small but still with a powerful implementation of Applied SAFe. This has the advantage that a company, or a department within a larger enterprise, can start with the minimum required for doing SAFe. This has the benefit, that you can start with a small and cost-effective package to gather first experiences with the application of SAFe and to harmonize teams towards a common approach. Applied SAFe® is a ‘ready to go with’ implementation and allows organizations to start using the framework immediately.

It’s extendible too!

Like all other versions of Applied SAFe, this version is extensible with your own content and is fully upward compatible with the future development of the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). It also contains our well known definitions including roles, activities, processes, guidelines, metrics, milestones and phases needed to bring such a framework to life. This allows you to easily migrate to other levels like Managed- or Enterprise at a later stage, including your own extensions on Essential SAFe.

Applied SAFe Essential provides PEDCO’s additional work product models and includes our Knowledge-Management-Process; together with its defined metrics. As essential SAFe is defined by Scaled Agile; Applied SAFe will stay in sync with the latest development of the framework. As a customer, you can always decide if you want to stay on your own version or the newest version of Applied SAFe. This allows you to easily follow the latest development in the industry.

Essential SAFe comes with a set of Key elements

[1]; without which, an implementation of the framework really isn’t “safe”:

SAFe Lean-Agile Principles.Lean-Agile principles provide the basis for every successful transformation and guide decision making as the process evolves and adapts.
Lean-Agile Leaders.Successful transformations are based on educating management to become “lean-thinking manager-teachers”. Thereafter, they lead, rather than follow, the transformation.
Agile Teams, Agile Release Trains, Value Streams.The Agile Release Train is a key building block of a SAFe enterprise. Trains are organized around Value Streams, and consist of Agile Teams. Teams use Scrum, Kanban and Built-in Quality practices to frequently produce integrated increments of value. DevOps practices close the loop on customer value delivery.
A standardized PI and iteration cadence is the heartbeat of every ART and Value Stream. Periodic synchronization of all aspects limits variance to a single time interval.
Key Program Events.PI Planning, System Demo, and Inspect and Adapt assure that teams plan together, implement and demo together, and routinely improve their processes.
IP Iteration.The Innovation and Planning iteration is like extra oxygen in the tank: without it the train may start gasping under the pressure of the tyranny of the urgent, a plan that forgives no mistakes, nor provides dedicated time for innovation.
Critical Roles.Product Management, RTE, and System Arch/Eng— provide content and technical authority, and an effective development process. Product Owners and Scrum Masters help the teams meet their objectives. The Customer is part of the Value Stream, and is integrally engaged throughout development.
Vision and Backlog.Vision, backlogs and economic prioritization deliver business results by assuring that the teams are building the right thing.
Architectural Runway.Architectural runway provides “just enough” technical enablement to keep program velocities high, and avoid excessive redesign.