DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AGILE AND SAFe FRAMEWORK

 “In a bureaucracy, serving the internal systems and processes takes precedence over serving customers… In Agile organizations, everyone in the organization has a clear line of sight to the ultimate customer or user and can see how work is adding value to that customer or user—or not” – Stephen Denning in Agile’s Ten Implementation Challenges 

What is Agile Methodology? 

Agile Methodology is a software development and project management framework that breaks the whole project into small phases called sprints. It is iterative, flexible and incremental in nature. There are many Agile methodologies that help the organizations in implementing the agile principles. Some of the frameworks are: 

• SAFe 
• Scrum 
• Kanban 
• Extreme Programming 
• Dynamic Systems Development Method 
• Crystal 
• Lean Software Development 
• Feature Driven Development 
• Disciplined Agile 
• Adaptive Software Development 
• Rapid Application Development 

Principles of Agile 

The Agile Manifesto defines 12 Agile principles that is the foundation for implementing Agile. The principles are mentioned below: 

• Customer satisfaction by early and continuous delivery of valuable software. 

• Welcome changing requirements, even in late development. 

• Deliver working software frequently. 

• Close daily cooperation between business people and developers. 

• Projects are built around motivated individuals, who should be trusted. 

• Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication. 

• Working software is the primary measure of progress. 

• Sustainable development, able to maintain a constant pace. 

• Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design. 

• Simplicity- the art of maximizing the amount of work not done- is essential. 

• Best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams. 

• Regularly, the team reflects on how to become more effective, and adjusts accordingly.

What is SAFe? 

Scaled Agile Framework is an Agile scaling framework that uses a set of tools and practices for it. This framework addresses the challenges while implementing Agile beyond a team. SAFe promotes agility, collaboration and alignment among teams working on the project.  Many digital platforms offer SAFe courses to learn implementation of SAFe principles in an organization. SAFe version 5.1 have four configurations: 

• Essential SAFe 
• Large Solution SAFe 
• Portfolio SAFe 
• Full SAFe 

SAFe Principles 

There are 10 principles that help in SAFe Implementation which are derived from Lean-Agile Principles. The principles are as follows: 

• Take an economic view. 
• Apply systems thinking 
• Assume variability; preserve options 
• Build incrementally with fast, integrated learning cycles 
• Base milestones on objective evaluation of working systems 
• Make value flow without interruptions 
• Apply cadence, synchronize with cross-domain planning 
• Unlock the intrinsic motivation of knowledge workers 
• Decentralize decision-making 
• Organize around value 

Difference between Agile and SAFe Framework 

SAFe is one of the most common Agile scaling frameworks but is not considered as one of the pure Agile Methodologies. This is because it has been developed with three concepts combined. Let us take a look at the differences between Agile and SAFe framework: 

POINTS OF COMPARISON 

AGILE METHODOLOGY 

SAFE FRAMEWORK 

1. Core Values 

Has four core values and twelve principles mentioned in the Agile Manifesto. 

Has four core values: 

• Built-In Quality 
• Transparency 
• Program Execution 
• Alignment 

1. Levels 

Agile has no defined levels 

SAFe has 4 defined levels. 

1. Team size 

It has small teams 

Cross-functional small team. 

1. Planning 

Planning is done before the start of the first sprint and before every sprint. 

Planning is done at Program Increment. 

1. Key element 

There is no key element 

Value Stream is the key component. 

1. Expanse 

Scales between teams. 

Scales between different levels of the enterprise. 

FAQs 

1. Can you explain how Agile and SAFe address the scaling of processes for larger organizations? 

Many companies have been benefitted by using Agile at team level and that encourages them to implement it at large scale. There are many Agile Methodologies that helps to implement its principles at large scale by addressing all the challenges. SAFe is one of the most popular approach among them all as it helps in planning at team, program and portfolio level. The framework uses ART to manage the work as per the skills of the members. The iteration time of each sprint in SAFe is 2-10 weeks which is an ideal time for large organizations. 

1. Typical ceremonies in Agile and how do they compare to SAFe events? 

There are typically five Agile ceremonies: 

• Daily Scrum Meeting 
• Sprint Planning ceremony 
• Sprint Review 
• Sprint Retrospective 
• Product Backlog Refinement 

The Agile ceremonies are designed to work for smaller organizations usually to manage things at team level. SAFe ceremonies are planned at program and portfolio level that includes cross-functional teams. There are a greater number of ceremonies for SAFe Implementation in comparison with Agile. 

1. Is it possible to combine Agile and SAFe practices? 

Yes, it is possible to combine Agile and SAFe practices in order to attain efficiency in the process. SAFe courses teach professionals about the tools and techniques used to implement the principles.