Short overview of explosive growth of SAFe in U.S. Government and across the world ...

1. Lean & Agile
Enterprise Frameworks
Using SAFe 4.6 to Manage U.S. Gov’t
Agencies, Portfolios & Acquisitions
Twitter: @dr_david_f_rico
Website: http://www.davidfrico.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidfrico
Agile Capabilities: http://davidfrico.com/rico-capability-agile.pdf
Agile Cost of Quality: http://www.davidfrico.com/agile-vs-trad-coq.pdf
DevOps Return on Investment (ROI): http://davidfrico.com/rico-devops-roi.pdf
Dave’s NEW Business Agility Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTvtsAkL8xU
Dave’s NEWER Scaled Agile Framework SAFe 4.5 Video: http://youtu.be/1TAuCRq5a34
Dave’s NEWEST Development Operations Security Video: http://youtu.be/X22kJAvx44A
DoD Fighter Jets versus Amazon Web Services: http://davidfrico.com/dod-agile-principles.pdf
Principles of Collaborative Contracting: http://davidfrico.com/collaborative-contract-principles.pdf
DR. DAVID F. RICO, PMP, CSEP, EBAS, BAF, FCP, FCT, ACP, CSM, SAFE, DEVOPS

2. Author Background
 Gov’t contractor with 36+ years of IT experience
 B.S. Comp. Sci., M.S. Soft. Eng., & D.M. Info. Sys.
 Large gov’t projects in U.S., Far/Mid-East, & Europe
2

 Career systems & software engineering methodologist
 Lean-Agile, Six Sigma, CMMI, ISO 9001, DoD 5000
 NASA, USAF, Navy, Army, DISA, & DARPA projects
 Published seven books & numerous journal articles
 Intn’l keynote speaker, 260 talks to 105,000 people
 Specializes in metrics, models, & cost engineering
 Cloud Computing, SOA, Web Services, FOSS, etc.
 Professor at 7 Washington, DC-area universities

3. 3
Strategy vs. Tactics — Sun Tzu

4. 4
 Portfolio. Subportfolio, program, project, operations
 Portfolio Mgt. Manage these to achieve strategic obj.
 Objectives. Includes efficiency, effectiveness, & value
Definition of PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
VISION
MISSION
STRATEGY & OBJECTIVES
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
OPERATIONS PROGRAMS & PROJECTS
ORGANIZATIONAL RESOURCES
Skrabak, J. L. (2013). The standard for portfolio management (Third Edition). Newtown Square: PA: Project Management Institute.

5. Lean & Agile FRAMEWORK?
 Frame-work (frām'wûrk') A support structure, skeletal
enclosure, or scaffolding platform; Hypothetical model
 A multi-tiered framework for using lean & agile methods
at the enterprise, portfolio, program, & project levels
 An approach embracing values and principles of lean
thinking, product development flow, & agile methods
 Adaptable framework for collaboration, teamwork,
iterative development, & responding to change
 Tools for agile scaling, rigorous and disciplined planning
& architecture, and a sharp focus on product quality
 Maximizes BUSINESS VALUE of organizations, programs,
& projects with lean-agile values, principles, & practices
Leffingwell, D. (2011). Agile software requirements: Lean requirements practices for teams, programs, and the enterprise. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
5


6. 6
 Time-centric way to compete on speed & time
 Customer-centric model to optimize cost & quality
 Pull-centric alternative to wasteful mass production
Leffingwell, D. (2017). The SAFe house of lean. Retrieved February 19, 2018, from http://www.scaledagileframework.com

What are Lean Values?
Respectfor
People&Culture
Flow
Innovation
Relentless
Improvement
Value
Leadership

7. Agile GOVERNMENT Timeline
7Mayner, S. (2018). Growing adoption of SAFe in government. Boulder, CO: Scaled Agile Academy.
Viechnicki, P., & Kelkar, M. (2017). Agile by the numbers: A data analysis of agile development in the US federal government. Washington, DC: Deloitte, LLC.
80% of U.S.
Gov’t Projects
Use Agile
Methods

8. Viechnicki, P., & Kelkar, M. (2017). Agile by the numbers: A data analysis of agile development in the US federal government. Washington, DC: Deloitte, LLC. 8
Cost
Agility
Length
Agile GOVERNMENT Adoption
Stress on
Lean-Agile
Collaboration

9. Factor eScrum SAFe LeSS DaD RAGE SPS
Simple      
Well-Defined   
Web Portal  
Books    
Measurable 
Results   
Training & Cert 
Consultants 
Tools 
Popularity   
International   
Fortune 500   
Government  
Lean-Kanban  
 Numerous lean-agile enterprise frameworks emerging
 eScrum & LeSS were 1st (but SAFe & DaD dominate)
 SAFe is the most widely-used (with ample resources)
9Rico, D. F. (2014). Scaled agile framework (SAFe) comparison. Retrieved June 4, 2014 from http://davidfrico.com/safe-comparison.xls





Models of AGILE FRAMEWORKS

10. Mayner, S. (2018). Growing adoption of SAFe in government. Boulder, CO: Scaled Agile Academy.
SAFe GOVERNMENT Adoption
 SAFE ADOPTERS 10

11. 11Mayner, S. (2018). Growing adoption of SAFe in government. Boulder, CO: Scaled Agile Academy.
SAFe GOVERNMENT EXAMPLES
Moving SAFe sped adoption of new system capabilities and avoided $600
million in expenditures
Wes Haga, Chief, U.S. Air Force Research Lab, Information Directorate, U.S. Air Force,
Distributed Common Ground System Program (DCGS)
SAFe at GSA enabled 100% on-time delivery, 25% less cost, 96.7% defect free,
and 99.82% data migration
Elizabeth Reed, Techflow, U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), Billing and
Accounts Receivable Program
IV&V Testing is completed within SAFe Sprints on the most mature Agile
Release Train (ARTs) was a big win for us
Mike O’Shea, Accenture Federal Services, U.S. State Department, Bureau of Consular
Affairs Program
We turned around a failing U.S. DoD Warfighter program
Within 10 months using the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
Scott Keenan, JLVC PM, Joint Staff, Modeling & Simulation (M&S) Program for Joint
Training Exercises
SAFe at CMS increased employee satisfaction by 27%, reduced trouble tickets
by 55%, and reduced system operations and maintenance costs by 60%
Brent Weaver, CMS Director of Systems Implementation, Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services (CMS), Center of Clinical Standards and Quality (CCSQ)

12. 12
Portfolio Management — Box

13.  Proven, public well-defined F/W for scaling Lean-Agile
 Synchronizes alignment, collaboration, and deliveries
 Quality, execution, alignment, & transparency focus




Leffingwell, D. (2018). Scaled agile framework (SAFe). Retrieved March 15, 2019 from http://www.scaledagileframework.com
Scaled Agile Framework (SAFE)
13

14. 
Leffingwell, D. (2018). Scaled agile framework (SAFe). Retrieved March 15, 2019 from http://www.scaledagileframework.com
 Scrum created to address Agile team mgt.
 SAFe created to address Agile program mgt.
 PfMp created to address Portfolio management
14

PfMP vs. SAFE vs. Scrum
SCALED AGILE
FRAMEWORK
PMI PFMP
SCRUM

15. SAFe GOLDILOCKS Zone
15
 Traditional project management is scope-based
 Agile project management is primarily time-based
 Batchsize, capacity, & time key to market response
Rico, D. F. (2017). Lean triangle: Triple constraints. Retrieved December 17, 2017, from http://davidfrico.com/lean-triangle.pdf
Sylvester, T. (2013). Waterfall, agile, and the triple constraint. Retrieved December 16, 2017, from http://tom-sylvester.com/lean-agile/waterfall-agile-the-triple-constraint
Pound, E. S., Bell, J. H., Spearman, M. L. (2014). Factory physics: How leaders improve performance in a post-lean six sigma world. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
WATERFALL LEANAGILE
Scope
Cost Time
CostTime
Scope
Batchsize
Capacity Time
Scope Drives
Resources
Batchsize Drives
Lead/Cycle Time
Time Drives
Scope
RESOURCE
PERFORMANCE
BUSINESS
VALUE
MARKET
RESPONSE
CONSTRAINTS
ESTIMATES

16. SAFe ANTI-PATTERNS
16
 SAFe is NOT a U.S. Government Hierarchy
 SAFE is NOT a Contract Hierarchy/Bureaucracy
 SAFe is DEFINITELY NOT a Waterfall Life Cycle
Rico, D. F. (2017). Scaled agile framework (SAFe) arguments: Point vs. counterpoint. Retrieved December 17, 2017, from http://davidfrico.com/safe-arguments.pdf
PORT-
FOLIO
LARGE
SOLUTION
PROGRAM
TEAM
LARGE
SOLUTION
PROGRAM
TEAM
PORTFOLIO Portfolio
Large
Solution
Team
Program

17. 17

SAFe EPIC-MVP Teams
 SAFe cross functional teams cut across levels
 Inc. portfolio, solution, program, & team functions
 Purpose is to shepherd epics through value streams
Epic-MVP
Teams
Rico, D. F. (2017). A short scaled agile framework (SAFe) case study. Retrieved December 17, 2017, from http://davidfrico.com/safe-case-study.pdf

18. SAFe CROSS FUNCTIONAL Teams
18
 SAFe Epic-MVP teams consist of diverse personnel
 Teams range from Epic owners through development
 Include scoping, analysis, planning, & implementation
Rico, D. F. (2017). A short scaled agile framework (SAFe) case study. Retrieved December 17, 2017, from http://davidfrico.com/safe-case-study.pdf
System
Arch/Eng
Product
Mgmt
RTE
Solution
Arch/Eng
Solution
Mgmt
STE
Epic
Owners
Enterprise
Architect
Lean
Portfolio Mgt
Dev
Team
Product
Owner
Scrum
Master
● ONE TEAM VS. HIERARCHY
● ALIGNMENT OF WHOLE TEAM
● BOTTOM UP DECISION MAKING
PREFERRED BY U.S. GOVERNMENT
● LEAN, JUST-IN-TIME, FRICTION-FREE
● CODIFIES LEAN-AGILE BEST PRACTICES
● FULL TRANSPARENCY & COMMUNICATION
 USAF, USA, CDC, CIA, CMS, USC, USCG, DOD, DFAS, DHS,
FAA, FBI, GSA, HHS, DOJ, USMC, NASA, NGA, NIH, NNSA,
NRO, NSA, USN, SSA, DOS, USPTO, USPS, VA, ETC.

19. 
19
 Portfolio & program epics begin at top levels
 Epics scoped, analyzed, & split by tech. architects
 Narrow epics are built, tested, deployed, & evaluated



Epic-MVP
Evolution
SAFe EPIC Evolution
Leffingwell, D. (2018). Scaled agile framework (SAFe). Retrieved March 15, 2019 from http://www.scaledagileframework.com

20. 20
 Late big bang integration increases WIP backlog
 Agile testing early and often reduces WIP backlog
 CI/CD/DevOps lower WIP, Cycle Time, & Lead Time
Nightingale, C. (2015). Seven lean metrics to improve flow. Franklin, TN: LeanKit.

KANBAN BOARD CUMULATIVE FLOW DIAGRAM
LEAD TIME & CYCLE TIME PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
SAFe METRICS

21. 21Leffingwell, D. (2015). Scaled agile framework (SAFe). Retrieved June 12, 2015 from http://www.scaledagileframework.com
SAFe METRICS—Cont’d

22. SAFe BENEFITS
22Leffingwell, D. (2014). Scaled agile framework (SAFe) case studies. Denver, CO: Leffingwell, LLC.
Rico, D. F. (2014). Scaled agile framework (SAFe) benefits. Retrieved June 2, 2014, from http://davidfrico.com/safe-benefits.txt
 Cycle time and quality are most notable improvement
 Productivity on par with Scrum at 10X above normal
 Data shows SAFe scales to teams of 1,000+ people
Benefit Nokia SEI Telstra BMC
Trade
Station
Discount
Tire
Valpak Mitchell
John
Deere
Spotify Comcast Average
App Maps Trading DW IT Trading Retail Market Insurance Agricult. Cable PoS
Weeks 95.3 2 52 52 52 52 51
People 520 400 75 300 100 90 300 800 150 120 286
Teams 66 30 9 10 10 9 60 80 15 12 30
Satis 25% 29% 15% 23%
Costs 50% 10% 30%
Product 2000% 25% 10% 678%
Quality 95% 44% 50% 50% 60%
Cycle 600% 600% 300% 50% 300% 370%
ROI 2500% 200% 1350%
Morale 43% 63% 10% 39%




23. 23

Leffingwell, D. (2019). Scaled agile framework (SAFe). Retrieved June 12, 2019 from http://www.scaledagileframework.com
 Roadmap necessary for successful SAFe introduction
 Traditional big-bang—story maps & incrementalism okay
 Keys are top-down commitment, training, & resources
SAFe ROADMAP—Top-Down (Big Bang)

24. SAFe Assessments
24
 SAFe health radar tools rapidly emerging
 Captures most SAFe dimensions and variables
 Includes portfolio, solution, program, & team level
Elatta, S. (2015). Agility health radar. Omaha, NE: Agile Transformation, Inc.

25. SAFe Automation
25
 Numerous SAFe Agile ALM tools emerging
 VersionOne, Rally, Jira, & Azure-DevOps popular
 Advanced visualizations include iObeya & Rentouch
http://www.iobeya.com & http://www.medium.com/rentouch

26. SAFe ADOPTION
 Over 450,000 SAFe professionals globally (& growing)
 Over 70% of U.S. firms have SAFe certified people
 50% prefer SAFe for scaling lean-agile principles
26

Irani, Z. (2017). Scaling agile report: The first annual edition. Foster City, CA: CPrime, Inc.
Leffingwell, D. (2019). Scaled agile framework (SAFe): Scaled Agile Story. Retrieved June 12, 2019 from https://www.scaledagile.com/about/about-us

 50% ACCORDING TO NEW CPRIME SURVEY

 450,000 SAFE CERTIFIED PROFESSIONALS IN 2019
450,000
50%
70%
110+
3.0
13th
30%
16% for Scrum of Scrums
230
50

27. SAFe SUMMARY
27
 SAFe is overarching framework for Lean-Agile thinking
 SAFe like US Digital Service Playbook/Agile Manifesto
 SAFe used by over 450,000 people in 70% of IT firms
 SAFe is preferred approach for U.S. gov’t IT contracts
 SAFe supports CI, CD, DevOps, AppSec, UX, and DoE
 SAFe is extremely well-defined in books and Internet
 SAFe has ample training, certification, consulting, etc.
 SAFe leads to increased productivity and quality
 SAFe supported by dozens of automated ALM tools
 SAFe based on soft-skills—visualization, conversation,
cooperation, collaboration, transparency, trust, etc.







28. 28
Portfolio Management — Porter

29. SAFe RESOURCES
 Guides to lean systems & software development
 Illustrates key principles, concepts, and practices
 Keys to applying lean ideas systems development
29

Leffingwell, D. (2007). Scaling software agility: Best practices for large enterprises. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Leffingwell, D. (2011). Agile software requirements: Lean requirements practices for teams, programs, and the enterprise. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Yakyma, A. (2016). The rollout: A novel about leadership and building a lean-agile enterprise with safe. Boulder, CO: Yakyma Press.
Leffingwell, D. (2018). SAFe reference guide: Scaled agile framework for lean enterprises. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Knaster, R., & Leffingwell, D. (2018). SAFe distilled: Applying the scaled agile framework for lean enterprises. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

30. Lean-Thinking RESOURCES
 Guides to lean economics, science, and thinking
 Illustrate key principles of just-in-time supply chains
 Keys to apply lean-thinking at strategic-tactical levels
30

Hopp, W. J. (2008). Supply chain science. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.
Hopp, W. J., & Spearman, M. L. (2008). Factory physics. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.
Reinertsen, D. G. (2009). The principles of product development flow: Second generation lean product development. New York, NY: Celeritas.
Pound, E. S., Bell, J. H., Spearman, M. L. (2014). Factory physics: How leaders improve performance in a post-lean six sigma world. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Schrage, M. (2014). The innovator's hypothesis: How cheap experiments are worth more than good ideas. Boston, MA: MIT Press.
LEAN PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT (LPM) RESOURCES
• http://youtu.be/gMS_5akjEBs (video)
• http://kanbanize.com/kanban-resources/portfolio-kanban (whitepaper)

31. Lean-Agile VIDEOS & WHITEPAPERS
31
 Rico, D. F., Sayani, H. H., & Sone, S. (2009). The business value of agile methods: Maximizing ROI with right-
sized processes and documentation. Ft. Lauderdale, FL: J. Ross, http://www.amazon.com/dp/1604270314
 Rico, D. F. (2014). 18 reasons why agile cost of quality (CoQ) is a fraction of traditional methods. Retrieved
June 25, 2014, from http://davidfrico.com/agile-vs-trad-coq.pdf
 Rico, D. F. (2017). U.S. DoD vs. Amazon: 18 architectural principles to build fighter jets like Amazon Web
Services using DevOps. Retrieved January 26, 2017, from http://davidfrico.com/dod-agile-principles.pdf
 Rico, D. F. (2018). Agile project management fundamentals: Challenges of scaling agile methods. Retrieved
December 14, 2018, from http://1drv.ms/u/s!AqQaUHVF8mpO-DGDl_Nm8tHLV0BX
 Rico, D. F. (2018). Lean & agile contracts: 21 principles of collaborative contracts and relationships.
Retrieved June 29, 2018, from http://davidfrico.com/collaborative-contract-principles.pdf
 Rico, D. F. (2018). Using SAFe 4.5 to transform a $200 million U.S. healthcare portfolio. Retrieved November
19, 2018 from http://davidfrico.com/safe-case-study-ii.pdf
 Rico, D. F. (2019). Business value of lean leadership: 22 Attributes of successful business executives,
directors, and managers. Retrieved April 27, 2019, from http://davidfrico.com/rico19a.pdf
 Rico, D. F. (2019). Dave's 20-minute lean and agile YouTube videos. Retrieved April 4, 2019, from
http://davidfrico.com/daves-videos.htm
 Rico, D. F. (2019). Top lean videos. Retrieved April 25, 2019, from http://davidfrico.com/top-lean-videos.htm
 Rico, D. F. (2019). Top SAFe videos. Retrieved April 7, 2019, from http://davidfrico.com/top-safe-videos.htm

32. Dave’s PROFESSIONAL CAPABILITIES
32
Software
Quality
Mgt.
Technical
Project
Mgt.
Software
Development
Methods
Leadership &
Org. Change
Cost Estimates
& Scheduling
Acquisition &
Contracting
Portfolio &
Program Mgt.
Strategy &
Roadmapping
Lean, Kanban,
& Six Sigma
Modeling &
Simulations
Big Data,
Cloud, NoSQL
Workflow
Automation
Metrics,
Models, & SPC
BPR, IDEF0,
& DoDAF
DoD 5000,
TRA, & SRA
PSP, TSP, &
Code Reviews
CMMI &
ISO 9001
Innovation
Management
Statistics, CFA,
EFA, & SEM
Evolutionary
Design
Systems
Engineering
Valuation — Cost-Benefit Analysis, B/CR, ROI, NPV, BEP, Real Options, etc.
Lean-Agile — Scrum, SAFe, Continuous Integration & Delivery, DevOpsSec, etc.
STRENGTHS – Lean & Agile Thinking • 360 Leadership Assessments • Executive & Agile Coaching • Enterprise Business Agility • Agile Acquisition
Contracts • Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) • DevOps + Security (DevOpsSec) • Cloud Computing/Amazon Web Svcs. • Portfolio, Program, & Project Mgt. •
5x5x5 Innovation & Marketing Sprints • Strategic Planning & Technology Roadmaps • Program Increment & Big Room Planning • Emergent & Evolutionary
Microservices • Exploratory MVP, MVA, & MMF Experiments • Lean Startup Product-Focused Value Streams • Performance Metrics, Measures & Dashboards
● Data mining. Metrics, benchmarks, & performance.
● Simplification. Refactoring, refinement, & streamlining.
● Assessments. Audits, reviews, appraisals, & risk analysis.
● Coaching. Diagnosing, debugging, & restarting stalled projects.
● Business cases. Cost, benefit, & return-on-investment (ROI) analysis.
● Communications. Executive summaries, white papers, & lightning talks.
● Strategy & tactics. Program, project, task, & activity scoping, charters, & plans.
PMP, CSEP,
EBAS, BAF, FCP,
FCT, ACP, CSM,
DEVOPS, &
SAFE
36+ YEARS
IN IT
INDUSTRY