If there's one buzzword that's dominated the last five years, it's "agile." It's one of those all-too-vague terms that's overused, undervalued, and certainly misused by a large chunk of the dev teams trying to jam it into their software development lifecycle or web development flow. It's not that the tech community doesn't understand the core message behind agile or even that agile is difficult to achieve (given the budget and training).
The problem with agile is that it's incredibly variable and difficult to scale. Iterative development isn't new. And, despite the "word on the street," developers weren't stuck in a Waterfall-loop for the past fifty years. Many agile components have been floating around the dev space since the '80s. The Agile Manifesto — which popularized the term and (in some cases) many of the practices — may have been the Big Bang of iterative development, but it wasn't the spark. These loosely-defined components (e.g., iterative, short cycles, collaborative, etc.) that sit at the heart of Agile have been manifesting in the air for decades.
So, when we look at the larger agile space, almost every organization has its own "version" of agile. In some ways, that's great. The power of agile is its innate flexibility. Unfortunately, this variability makes it difficult to scale agile, since many are trying to scale a one-of-a-kind framework. There's no roadmap... or is there?
Recently, Mobomo was certified in the Scaled Agile Framework (i.e., SAFe). This flexible, scalable, and enterprise-centric agile framework helps organizations build robust, end-to-end agile practices that go beyond product and delivery methods. SAFe penetrates core business models and rethinks how organizations can approach agile in a structured, meaningful, and impactful way.
What is SAFe?
Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) is an agile-based framework that gives organizations the strategies and guidance they need to execute lean-agile practices at scale. When we look at the average enterprise — which is jam-packed with ongoing projects — finding ways to deliver continuous value that meets business goals and visions is tricky enough. Trying to deliver that value at scale in an environment that's constantly changing is downright challenging. SAFe goes well-beyond building agile teams; it helps define how enterprises can deliver, scale, and manage these projects — as well as how they can breed innovative and iterative practices into their culture.
The SAFe Framework (as of version 5.0) defines 7 "buckets" that enterprises can create to breed agile into their organizations. We'll split these into three more buckets (which will make sense at the end).
Bucket #1: Teams & Delivery
- Team & Technical Agility
- Agile Product Delivery
- Enterprise Solution Delivery
Bucket #2: Product Choice & Culture
- Lean Portfolio Management
- Organizational Agility
- Continuous Learning Culture
Bucket #3: Leadership
- Lean-Agile Leadership
SAFe Best Practices
Let's quickly cover a few SAFe best-practices.
Mobomo & SAFe
At Mobomo, we're big advocates of agile. We've used agile practices to create projects for NASA, USGS, the US Navy, and thousands of private companies across the globe. As we grew, we saw a need for agility at scale. Recently, we became fully SAFe certified. This is important for us, as a company, but it's also important for our customers. You expect value-driven, customer-centric solutions that adapt and evolve over time. We're going to continue to deliver that value to you.
Want to learn more about Mobomo's services? Interested in our agile practices? Contact us. Let's talk about it.