Why is SAFe® Popular and Why Should Organizations Bet On It?

Scaled Agile Framework® (SAFe®) is a methodology for an Agile team to work on massive projects in a flexible way. It is one of the leading Agile systems globally. It is considered as the current industry standard for valuable projects to impress clients. It is a complete solution for a perfect project closure with minimal risk of errors and rejections.

Four benefits of using SAFe

For any methodology to be implemented in a development process, it is important to know its benefits. So how does SAFe Benefit Organizations? Here are 4  benefits:

1. Employee Engagement:

In a software development company there are numerous reasons for employees to keep changing jobs. While working with SAFe®, they are 50% more likely to stay put with their organization, probably because of the flexibility SAFe® gives to work with a project.

2. Time to Market:

Lean-Agile Frameworks take lesser time to enter into the market. They add value to the project and hence enter the market quickly. Software developers who practice Agile management are sure to gain first-mover advantages which will, in turn, bring high margin profits to the company. SAFe® enabled projects are known to witness 30-75 % improvement in marketing time.

3. Quality:

A project with quality is known to reduce defects from 25 to 75%. This will not only improve completion predictability but will also ensure that the project is satisfactorily delivered to the client without any errors or rejection risks.

4. Productivity:

Productivity is key to the performance of team members. With SAFe®, project productivity is known to increase 20-50%, and it will also reduce wasteful work. This will also improve system development economics along with employee engagement.

How SAFe® Core Values Quicken The Progress Of An Agile Team?

SAFe® values are essential both for Lean and Agile principles. They are broad and profound principles which improve their core value. Here is why core values are of importance and how SAFe core values quicken the progress of an agile team:

• For any person or organisation, core values are the fundamental beliefs.
• They are like guiding principles which drive the behaviour and action of the team.
• .Core values help people differentiate the right aspect from the wrong ones.
• Core values help developers know their right path towards successful progress. 

There are 4 important core values which SAFe® upholds as detailed below:

1. Alignment: This is the coordination of many teams working as one. Proper alignment ensures that all units act as one and work together while each team member understands the facts and figures required for the project entirely and play an equally important role in delivering a perfect plan to the client.
2. Built-in Quality: This is a default of any agile management software. So even with SAFe®, there is implementation of built-in quality which helps delivery time saving and cost-effective projects. It enhances the ability of the team with innovative ideas and functionalities as errors are reduced.

Built-in quality can be achieved depending on the software and the hardware. Both play a similar role. The following summarises the requirements for software and hardware:

Software
Many of the software practices of SAFe® are inspired by XP which help agile teams ensure that their projects are not only of high quality but also open to changes based on the client requirement. This collaborative practice in association with a focus on validation of processes regularly creates a bonding between engineering and craftsmanship which are critical enablers of business. To achieve this, the software needs the following:

• Test-driven development
• Acceptance test driven development
• Behaviour-driven development
• Continuous integration
• Refactoring
• Pair work

Hardware
Quality of hardware is based on repeated iterations, design verification, modelling, regular system integration and set-based design.

3. Clarity: Clarity is the essence of trust which in turn helps innovation, risk-taking and infinity in improvement. Transparency of projects helps both the developer as well as the client to rely on each other for every action during the project especially during times of difficulty. A few SAFe® practices to gain clarity are as below:

• Teams have visibility to their backlogs along with backlogs of other units working together.
• Routine meeting commitments help teams and programs to commit to short term visibility.

4. Program Execution: SAFe® has a high level of focus on working systems and business outcomes. If we look at the past, Agile teams get frustrated halfway through a project due to various reasons. Teams finally struggle to deliver projects with value and quality. With SAFe® core values bring implemented, program execution is perfect, and the solution trains ensure that the project is of an ideal quality and is delivered satisfactorily to the client.

These four core values are the fundamental beliefs of SAFe® which are known to quicken the progress of an agile team and thus meet organizational objectives.