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Scrum Vs SAFe: The Better Agile Framework

Scrum Vs SAFe: The Better Agile Framework

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Introduction
 

Just as in life, even business organizations need to adapt to changes, that too as soon as possible. Business organizations need to adopt changes as fast as possible to maintain their competitive advantage. In short, the organizations need to be Agile, which means ‘being able to move quickly and easily.’ Hence, attaining Agility is the new normal for our lives and even for organizations.

While change is the only constant factor, it is essential to make systems and processes of an organization Agile so that even the slightest change in the environment can be accommodated and adopted as soon as possible to maintain and sustain the competitive edge in the market. The development of Agile frameworks such as SAFe and Scrum helps the organizations gain that competitive edge over their competitors. However, it is crucial to understand the salient benefits of various frameworks such as SAFe, Scrum to make an appropriate choice.
 

Agile Frameworks – The need of the hour
 

Changes are constant. However, not always does a change require drastic modifications or overhauls. Sometimes minor changes within the system and processes can help the organization’s system gain a competitive edge and lead in the market. What is critical is that processes and systems are Agile enough to incorporate the required changes quickly. Agile frameworks include creating and developing Agile software that enables the division of tasks (processes) into smaller phases of work (smaller processes). The work can be reassessed soon, and changes can be incorporated to make it all successful. Deployment of a non-agile system or software would require the complete overhaul of the process, even with the slightest change.

Agile framework refers to an umbrella term that includes various software developmental approaches that help target, develop, and incorporate iterative and incremental changes within the systems. Some of the popularly used Agile frameworks include Scrum, Crystal, SAFe, and Dynamic Systems Development Method. Each of these Agile Frameworks has the following salient features:
 

  • They are unique in their way.
     
  • They encourage continuous feedback and enable development based on such feedback.
     
  • They enable iterative and incremental development of the process.
     
  • They are lightweight in terms of rules and procedures and require the users to follow minimum regulations and practices against the conventional development processes such as waterfall.
     
  • They are designed to be adaptive to changes and adopt the changes in the least possible time frame.
     
  • Rather than the system, the focus is on empowering developers to take turnaround decisions and implement the changes as soon as possible.
     
  • They believe in creating small applications (incremental) and test each such application, process, and intermediate product before proceeding, thus creating a “built-in” quality platform rather than a “final inspection” quality platform.
     

Scrum
 

A prevalent and popular Agile Framework, Scrum is accepted and applied across organizations from various business sectors. Scrum has been the popular choice among all Agile frameworks because of the following reasons:
 

  • It helps business organizations in addressing various kinds of situations, especially those involving complex adaptive problems.
     
  • It is primarily focused on project management.
     
  • It ensures productive and creative delivery of products that too while creating the highest possible value across the value chain
     
  • It is essentially lightweight and helps solve complex adaptive problems, thus helping individuals, teams, and the business organization.
     
  • It has a grave emphasis on
     
    • Accountability
    • Teamwork
    • Iterative progress
       

Scaled Agile Framework(SAFe)
 

Scaled Agile Framework, also known as SAFe, is a kind of Agile framework that helps implement Agile practices within the organization’s workflow, but at the enterprise level. SAFe provides structured guidelines regarding the roles and responsibilities of people and teams. SAFe further helps plan the work of teams and thereby successfully manage the organization efficiently.

Organizations need to carefully decide upon Scrum vs. SAFe depending upon the organization’s requirements and the type of business the organization is involved with.
 

SAFe Vs. Scrum: The Salient Points to Consider
 

It is important to understand the salient differences between Scrum and SAFe before deciding on the Agile framework. When the organization needs to conclude between Scaled Agile Framework vs. Scrum, the organization needs to analyze many factors.
 

Some factors that deserve due consideration before deciding upon SAFe vs. Scrum include:
 

  • Type and Level of Management required
  • Number of People required to be managed
     

Differences between Scrum and SAFe

 

Deciding Parameter

Scrum

SAFe

Type of organization

For organizations that wish to apply the Agile framework at a small scale, say within a project team or at the most at a cross-functional team level, the choice should be Scrum.

Scrum is operational at a small, cross-functional team level.

An organization chooses SAFe as a whole because it is effective at the enterprise level.

A multinational corporation with multi-geography operations needs to choose SAFe.

Classification

Implementation of Scrum does not involve all the levels of management. At the most, the team working on the Agile methodology and the top management has a role to play in the implementation of Scrum.

The middle management might not even have a say in such implementation in most cases.

SAFe is classified in a two-tier system – Managing Programs and Managing Portfolio.

The entire organization and all levels of management have essential and crucial roles to play in implementing SAFe.

Who manages the implementation?

Scrum Team manages the implementation of Scrum-based Agility framework at the team level.

Agile Release Train manages the SAFe framework implementation and activities in the organization where SAFe is implemented.

The level of operation

Scrum is implemented at a small cross-functional level. Therefore, Scrum is neither responsible nor capable of managing all the organization’s nitty gritties or even the team it is being applied for. Scrum can consequently miss out on quite a few essential aspects related to the organization and its activities.

SAFe is implemented at the enterprise level. Therefore, SAFe is enabled and responsible for managing all the activities of the organization. SAFe cannot only miss out on any activity of the organization. Organizations can gain Agility in all the processes of the organizations by applying SAFe


The above salient differences highlight that organizations that wish to implement Agility within small teams should choose Scrum. Organizations that require applying Agility across their value chain need to choose a framework like SAFe.  The decision between SAFe vs. Scrum, thus, becomes easy. The management merely needs to decide the level of organization needed within its enterprise. Scrum can manage team level organization while enterprise-level organization requires the implementation of SAFe framework. 

 

Simpliaxis is one of the leading professional certification training providers in the world offering multiple courses related to SAFe methodologies. We offer numerous SAFe related courses such as Leading SAFe® (6.0) Certification Training, SAFe® 6.0 Scrum Master (SSM) Certification Training, SAFe®6.0 Product Owner/Product Manager Certification Training,SAFe® Advanced Scrum Master (SASM) Certification Training, Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) Certification Training, SAFe® 6.0 Architects Certification Training, SAFe® for Teams Certification Training, SAFe® 6.0 DevOps Certification Training, SAFe® Agile Product Management Training (SAFe® APM) Certification Training and much more. Simpliaxis delivers training to both individuals and corporate groups through instructor-led classroom and online virtual sessions.

 

Conclusion
 

Organizations need to gain a competitive edge to sustain in competitive scenarios. Time becomes an essential resource to gain such a competitive edge. Organizations that can adopt changes in the environment timely gain such an edge. Adopting the right Agile Framework – SAFe vs. Scrum would help the organizations adopt changes effectively and efficiently.

 

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