About two decades ago, the traditional Waterfall method was the only method used for project management. Although it worked well with many projects, particularly those which are called predictive projects, adaptive projects faced big difficulty with this conventional technique. There are generally new technologies involved in adaptive projects as the organizations are doing some reengineering. So, the project managers need guidance in handling these projects because they need to have a precedent to rely on for making plans. So, over the last 20 years, companies have seen a manifold increase in using Agile methodology in project management.

In this article, we will look at what is Agile and what is Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), the differences between the two, and their individual benefits for the organizations. Let us first briefly understand what Agile is and what SAFe Agile is.

Agile

Agile is a project management methodology that is structured and flexible. Although it is used mostly in software development but of late, many other industries have also started adopting this methodology. Agile is applied to developing new and innovative products because these products must be delivered faster to the market for the organization to remain relevant and gain a competitive edge. It is a strategy for handling the highly dynamic world of today and sustaining the organization in it. Agile offers the capability of making changes and adapting to them. It uses an iterative and incremental approach to project management. Agile offers flexibility to its processes to adapt to changing requirements, inputs, and customer feedback. Agile is generally used in small organizations or for small teams.

SAFe Agile

Simply put, SAFe Agile is a framework where the Agile methodology is scaled to the enterprise level. SAFe helps in applying the Lean-Agile approaches at the enterprise level. It is usually used by large organizations where projects related to enterprise portfolios and value streams are carried out to meet stakeholders’ requirements. The highlight of the SAFe framework is the inclusion of the principles of transparency and team management in its structure, SAFe helps companies to substantially improve their product quality, delivery time, and production efficiency. SAFe uses the management elements of Agile but improves the processes to overcome the challenges of applying Agile to large organizations or large teams working on complex projects.

Having described Agile and SAFe Agile briefly, let us now move to the differences between the two, their respective benefits to the organizations, and how they stack against each other.

SAFe vs. Agile

We will first discuss some significant differences between SAFe and Agile.

As we have mentioned earlier, the most fundamental difference between SAFe and Agile is that Agile is designed for small teams and organizations, while SAFe is applied to large organizations and large teams handling large, complex projects. But otherwise, also, both of these differ significantly from each other. And the most significant difference between the two is the number of iterations that are done in both. While in Agile, there is no time limit set for iterations, SAFe, an iterative process, uses four iterations in each release plan.

Secondly, the Agile team focuses on delivering a working solution to the client one iteration at a time. This leads to an interactive process with a fast movement from concept generation to idea validation and ultimately to delivering this idea.

SAFe, on the other hand, is more project-oriented and stresses more on releasing usable products in a piecemeal fashion over a defined period of time where every stage of the release plan has a definite success indicator.

Let us now look at some of the other differences between SAFe and Agile.

Difference between Agile and SAFe Agile

• Agile frameworks are based on Agile principles, whereas SAFe is a scaled-up framework of Agile principles.
• In Agile, the management has only a limited role to play in the routine functions of the organization. Their’s is more of a supporting role and is more critical during the transition to Agile methodology. The SAFe framework has definite roles for management. The Portfolio Manager has accountability for finance, business, and technical aspects, and the Product Manager is responsible for prioritizing product features and explaining them to all the stakeholders.
• There are no sub-teams or hierarchies in Agile. There are small teams focusing on achieving one objective at a time in their pursuit of building the final product. SAFe uses Agile Release Trains (ARTs) consisting of multiple Agile teams that work in tandem under a typical timeline and plan for achieving the goals of the value stream.
• An Agile team is encouraged to make independent decisions. In SAFe, decision-making depends on the significance and the scope of the issue involved. The decision can be made both at the team level as well as the enterprise level.
• The approach in Agile is more of a bottom-up kind. So, the developers and testers focus more on their tasks which means the focus on organizational goals needs to be recovered. The individual goals and the business goals are not aligned. On the other hand, SAFe has a top-down approach and this, coupled with the involvement of the top management in making strategic decisions, ensures that the business goals are achieved.
• The planning process in Agile is simple and brief. Here, planning is done before the first Sprint Plan and subsequent planning at the beginning of each Sprint Plan. This means the planning is done for the entire project but for shorter durations. In SAFe, the vision is always broader. So, the planning and development processes take longer time. Here, planning is done in a timebox which is called Program Increment (PI).
• Agile heavily depends on the individual devotion and competence of the members of the team and their level of dedication toward the goals. All of them might only sometimes live up to expectations. So, there may be delays or missed deadlines due to some members of the team needing help to perform to the expected level. SAFe, on the other hand, has well-established leadership roles that are motivated and focused enough to ensure that large projects are completed smoothly with the involvement of the leadership and the development team.
• The Agile approach works around change and adaptability. So, there is always room for improvement after each iteration. Changes can be made in the SAFe process also. However, it is more complex and challenging in actual execution because of the large-scale projects.

So, we have seen the differences between Agile and SAFe Agile. Let us now focus on the individual benefits of both these approaches.

Benefits of Agile

There are multiple benefits linked to specific projects that the Agile team, customers, sponsors, and leaders may obtain from Agile. These include

• The Agile process offers many opportunities to the stakeholders, including customers and business leaders, to get involved while the product is being built. Since Agile emphasizes communication, there is effective coordination and increased cooperation between the development team and the stakeholders.
• Agile is an excellent practice as a concept but needs people with enough expertise for rightly executing it. Otherwise, it may put more unreasonable pressure on developers than is desired.
• A high-quality product may be produced due to the possibility of making improvements after each cycle because the project is broken into smaller parts. But the flip side is that it may lead to increased demands from the stakeholders because there needs to be a clearly defined end product.
• Agile allows for a faster turnaround time and helps minimize waste by efficiently using resources.
• The customers’ specific needs are given more focus in Agile and the development processes are optimized.

Benefits of SAFe

• The most important and the best benefit of SAFe is that it can scale the Agile framework to the enterprise level by making the required changes in it. This means that Agile application extends beyond the development team and moves to the enterprise’s leadership, who can then plan strategy with this approach.
• The other benefit of the Scaled Agile Framework is its ability to handle large-scale projects with complexities more effectively and efficiently than traditional methods.
• There may be difficulties in organizing and managing large teams and coordinating between them in large-scale projects. However, SAFe helps organize the workflow so that teams can function together and there are minimum obstacles to a smooth workflow.
• Further, the SAFe practitioners can immediately start training sessions for development processes. It provides them with a practical framework to get down to creating processes.
• The time-to-market improves drastically with the implementation of SAFe.

We hope we have clearly brought out the difference between Agile and SAFe Agile. SAFe uses an Agile methodology for large organizations as per specifications. There is no perfect choice of framework for an organization. Each organization has to decide for itself in the light of its requirements and to suit its business objectives. \ However, it is advisable to take the help of trained and experienced practitioners to guide you on the suitable framework for your organization.