SAFe Automation for Agile Expansion of Large Enterprises

SAFe

When the features of the Scrum framework are insufficient-the number of people in the organization increases and the product becomes more complex-30% of companies choose the scalable and flexible framework SAFe (Scalable Agile Framework). The SAFe database contains the best and proven principles, practices and capabilities for implementing Lean, Agile and DevOps in any organization. For ease of implementation and use, special tools have emerged, including independent control systems and tools built into various automation platforms. Let’s take a look at such solutions and see how they can help SAFe automate.

Agile, Scrum, SAFe

This order is determined by the meaning of the terms of the development team. Agile is a development method, a general concept or principle of organizational work. Agile essentially does not require tools, procedures or methods; its manifesto makes people and their interactions accountable. There should be continuous cooperation between the customer and the contractor. It is this kind of cooperation that allows you to flexibly adapt to changing conditions, not based on a previously approved and lost plan, but a plan expected by the interested parties. product.

The Agile Manifesto was created by a group of programmers in 2001. It outlines the entire 90s agile development picture: Rapid Application Development (RAD), Scrum, Crystal Clear and Extreme Programming (XP). The manifesto describes and systematizes each method so that any development team can use it in its work.

Agile iteration

how to use? In the main paradigm of agile methodology, we can pick out the basic principles of work shaping in the development team:

  • The development team maintains constant communication with customers, and cooperation is more important than achieving the set goals;
  • Changes to the project are welcome and take precedence over the original plan;
  • All the work of the project is divided into iterations, and the duration of the iteration is fixed (1-4 weeks);
  • The result of each iteration is the finished product or its functional part, whose business value can be determined and used immediately;
  • In the process of creating value for an enterprise (product), people and their communication are more important than the tools that create these values.

Scrum is one of the agile development methods suitable for agile concepts. In Scrum, a cross-functional team of experts and product owners and Scrum managers are responsible for the project. The first one knows all the information about the products produced and communicates between the team and the customer, the second organizes the business process and ensures that the work corresponds to the Scrum method. The work is completed by the sprint. Before the start of each sprint, the task is formed and the results are discussed at the end. Simple and effective. Many software companies appreciate Scrum and achieve outstanding results by working rhythmically, clearly and clearly. Scrum allows you to avoid urgent work, overwork and deadlines.

Sprint in Scrum

When the project becomes too big, the work begins to fail, and there are already multiple teams involved, and they are developing multiple products in parallel. SAFe is a set of rules, guidelines, and methods for implementing agility principles in large organizations with a large product portfolio, helping to solve problems and rebuild agility work.

Detailed information about SAFe-articles, downloads, demos and videos-can be found on the official framework site scaledagileframework.com. It should only be noted that SAFe is adaptive, and you can choose one of four configurations based on the size of the company and the complexity of the project being implemented. Basic SAFe is the minimal set of tools required to obtain results. SAFe portfolio is suitable for multi-product development and allows budget allocation across processes. Large-scale solution SAFe-Suitable for organizations that are developing a large-scale project but have multiple development teams. Full SAFe-all SAFe levels used to develop multiple complex solutions.

SAFe automation

The framework is useful, but on a large scale. To make it easy to use, we recommend using modern automation tools. Most SAFe automation software is a logical extension of the Scrum tool, and you can also use the built-in tools of the general automation and project management platform. These tools are similar in nature, but differ in functionality, interface, and performance.

Gila Arrit

One of the most popular and versatile tools for automating agile development. Allows you to use any method, including SAFe. The program has a beautiful and modern interface that makes it easy for you to understand and use the service. Jira is ideal for large organizations that run multiple projects at once in a highly integrated environment. The service is flexibly configured to control work and allows each expert to track development at each stage. It also integrates with other software such as Confluence or Slack.

Disadvantages include regularly missing bugs, lack of automatic browser updates (data updates can be skipped), and high requirements for employee experience and knowledge. To purchase this software product, you must immediately plan your staff training budget.

Target process

Targetprocess is an agile project management tool suitable for large and medium-sized companies. Supports Scrum, Kanban and SAFe. The system can be easily configured for any version of SAFe-from Essential SAFe to Full SAFe. In addition, with Targetprocess, you can organize a hybrid model and start using agile, but you can partially use traditional development methods.

The solution has a good pricing strategy, intuitive interface and easy to set up, and the support team can provide implementation and training services. The disadvantages of Targetprocess include the complexity of setting up certain functions (such as creating rules) and the need for programming. It is inconvenient to only use e-mail to implement notification of events in the system.

Lean and Agile of Planview

Planview is a powerful and versatile enterprise project management tool, and Lean and Agile can simplify and automate the agile implementation in software development projects. This tool allows you to easily allocate resources and consider the working hours of employees. Comprehensive SAFe support can flexibly manage multiple projects and multiple teams, and establish synchronized work and coordination.

The problem with this software product is a very complex interface; to start using the system, end users and administrators will need to be trained.

Keto platform

The Keto platform of a Finnish developer integrates investment portfolio, risk and resource management functions. Support traditional development methods and agility; therefore, using this service, you can build hybrid models and gradually switch to SAFe.

The platform has a modern interface, is easy to customize, integrates with other control systems, and is concise compared with other large-scale systems. Among the shortcomings, it can be noted that the function is limited, but it is enough to implement the basic SAFe process in the organization.

Swift

Swift

SwiftEASe is designed for collaboration between vision planning and software development teams. All four versions of SAFe are supported. Developers focus on visual control and ease of use. SwiftEASe combines the best lean and agile software development principles and techniques. It can be integrated with existing agile tools and display information in all systems in a visual manner.

One of the initial advantages is to provide a separate mobile application for Android and iOS, in which you can perform all the typical tasks using the platform. Among these shortcomings, only support for SAFe 4.6 can be invoked, but the developers promised to add version 5 in the near future.

SAFe tool in automation platform

Now serving

Popular automation platform ServiceNow includes Agile Development 2.0, which is a flexible software development and project management environment that uses Scrum methodology. By activating other SAFe support plugins, you can use ServiceNow for large projects on a single platform.

The platform supports two versions: Essential SAFe and Portfolio SAFe. You can also use Scaled Agile Framework: Other components of Unified Backlog, which allow you to include the basic elements of ServiceNow (such as issues, events, change requests, etc.) in your development workflow (history), and Performance Content Pack for Essential SAFe (Special dashboard for visualization) team, sprint, agile release training and epic.

simple

SimpleOne, another increasingly popular ESM platform, also implements tools to automate the SAFe framework. The toolkit fully implements Scrum functions, such as sprint management, backlog content, visualization tools (kanban board, burndown chart), communication between project participants, etc.

These tools can be extended to the project portfolio management level and support Full SAFe. The SimpleOne product itself was developed by a large team (more than 100 people), and its work is based on the SAFe methodology, which allows the user’s needs to be determined in a “combat mode” and to continuously improve the functionality of the tool. The platform is not limited to IT, but also allows you to automate processes in almost all directions of your company, not just software development. The SAFe automation tool implemented in SimpleOne can be applied to project management and other industries besides IT.

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