SAFe®(Scaled Agile Framework) and Agile

SAFe® applies Agile principles with a framework for Agile at scale

SAFe® and Agile principles

Agile principles and values were conceived by software developers to help create products with better collaboration, speed, quality, and customer-centricity. SAFe Scrum Master and Extreme Programming (XP) are examples of methodologies that help teams apply Agile principles to their work. The Scaled Agile Framework® is a system for scaling Agile across teams of teams, business units, and even entire organizations.

  • SAFe builds on Agile’s foundation of principles and values by providing specific guidance for scaling in large, complex, distributed, or high-compliance settings
  • SAFe extends Agile principles from the team level to teams of Agile teams and portfolios, creating efficiencies and linking company strategy to execution
  • SAFe integrates Agile-adjacent principles such as Lean, DevOps, and systems thinking to provide an effective, continuously improving system updated with customer learnings and the latest thinking and practices
scaling agile with SAFe

Why scale Agile with SAFe?

Agile methods can help teams do better work. Many organizations adopt this method organically, starting with a single team. But often, when they go to scale Agile across multiple teams, departments, or business units, they struggle. The need for alignment, planning, cadence, roles, and communication, which may have seemed simple among a dozen team members, becomes challenging to implement across hundreds and even thousands of people.

As a framework for scaling Agile, SAFe can help an entire organization achieve a better way of working. It builds on Agile’s foundations to give organizations a proven system and structured guidance for addressing these challenges at scale. SAFe gives organizations a roadmap for the what, why, who, when, and how of applying Agile across the business.

business agility

From Agile to business agility with SAFe

To improve overall performance and not just the performance of a specific team or department, Agile development by itself isn’t enough. The top companies in today’s digital world are those with agility built into their business operating system. They can react quickly, launch frequently, align their portfolios to customer and market changes, and prioritize the right work.

SAFe expands Agile principles and practices beyond the team to help organizations achieve business agility: the ability to compete and thrive in the digital age by responding quickly to market changes and emerging opportunities with innovative solutions.

Learn more about business agility

Back to: What is SAFe?

SAFe is the most popular framework to implement Agile, Lean, and DevOps practices at scale. See why it’s trusted, effective, customizable, and sustainable.

Learn more

Next to: SAFe principles

When every organization has its own context, adopting best practices isn’t enough. SAFe principles can guide you to discover a better way of working.

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“What makes big transitions like Sentinel-6 moving to the cloud possible is our implementation of the Scaled Agile Framework…This framework and attitude of collaboration and transparency across organizations is geared toward getting the right people working together at the right levels to have the right technical conversations.”
—Dana Shum, Mission Engineer

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