Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Benefits and Challenges of Adopting the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe): Preliminary Results from a Multivocal Literature Review

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Product-Focused Software Process Improvement (PROFES 2018)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNPSE,volume 11271))

Abstract

Over the past few years, the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) has been adopted by a large number of organizations to scale agile to large enterprises. At the moment, SAFe seems to be the most predominant agile scaling framework. Despite the current popularity of SAFe in the software intensive industry, there exists surprisingly little scientific research on the benefits and challenges of SAFe adoption. To collect the existing knowledge on this topic, we conducted a multivocal literature review, which includes both peer-reviewed and non-peer reviewed case studies and experience reports on organizations that have adopted SAFe. We identified 52 unique organisations adopting SAFe, five from the scientific literature and 47 from the grey literature.

The most salient benefit categories were: transparency, alignment, productivity, predictability and time to market. The most frequently mentioned challenge categories were: change resistance, challenges with the first program increment planning and moving away from agile.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    G denotes non peer-reviewed sources or grey literature sources.

  2. 2.

    Due to space limitations, all the primary sources can be found using this link: https://figshare.com/s/6be7337493b080ed70b6.

  3. 3.

    D represents a peer reviewed case.

  4. 4.

    P denotes peer-reviewed sources or scientific literature sources.

  5. 5.

    More detailed analysis of the code categories will be presented in the journal version.

  6. 6.

    * marked in Table 2.

  7. 7.

    marked with D in Table 2.

  8. 8.

    marked with C in Table 2.

References

  1. Alqudah, M., Razali, R.: A review of scaling agile methods in large software development. Int. J. Adv. Sci. Eng. Inf. Technol. 6(6), 828–837 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Alsaqaf, W., Daneva, M., Wieringa, R.: Quality requirements in large-scale distributed agile projects – a systematic literature review. In: Grünbacher, P., Perini, A. (eds.) REFSQ 2017. LNCS, vol. 10153, pp. 219–234. Springer, Cham (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54045-0_17

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  3. Ambler, S.W., Lines, M.: Disciplined Agile Delivery: A Practitioner’s Guide to Agile Software Delivery in the Enterprise. IBM Press, Indianapolis (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Ampatzoglou, A., Ampatzoglou, A., Chatzigeorgiou, A., Avgeriou, P.: The financial aspect of managing technical debt: a systematic literature review. Inf. Softw. Technol. 64, 52–73 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Boehm, B., Turner, R.: Management challenges to implementing agile processes in traditional development organizations. IEEE Softw. 22(5), 30–39 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Corbin, J.M., Strauss, A.L.: Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory, 3rd edn. Sage Publications Inc., Los Angeles (2008). http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0725/2007034189.html

  7. Denning, S.: Agile: its time to put it to use to manage business complexity. Strat. Leadersh. 43(5), 10–17 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Dikert, K., Paasivaara, M., Lassenius, C.: Challenges and success factors for large-scale agile transformations: a systematic literature review. J. Syst. Softw. 119, 87–108 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Dybå, T., Dingsøyr, T.: Empirical studies of agile software development: a systematic review. Inf. Softw. Technol. 50(9–10), 833–859 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Garousi, V., Felderer, M., Mäntylä, M.V.: The need for multivocal literature reviews in software engineering: complementing systematic literature reviews with grey literature. In: Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering, p. 26. ACM (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Garousi, V., Felderer, M., Mäntylä, M.V.: Guidelines for including the grey literature and conducting multivocal literature reviews in software engineering. arXiv preprint arXiv:1707.02553 (2017)

  12. Garousi, V., Mäntylä, M.V.: When and what to automate in software testing? A multi-vocal literature review. Inf. Softw. Technol. 76, 92–117 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Glass, R.L.: Software Creativity 2.0. developer.* Books (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Gustavsson, T.: Assigned roles for inter-team coordination in large-scale agile development: a literature review. In: Proceedings of the XP2017 Scientific Workshops, p. 15. ACM (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  15. van Haaster, K.: Agile in-the-large: getting from paradox to paradigm

    Google Scholar 

  16. Scaled Agile Inc.: Core Values. http://www.scaledagileframework.com/safe-core-values/

  17. Scaled Agile Inc.: Questionnaire for safe adopters. https://www.scaledagile.com/resources/submit-a-case-study/

  18. Scaled Agile Inc.: Review process. https://www.scaledagile.com/case-study-faqs/

  19. Scaled Agile Inc.: Scaled Agile Framework. http://www.scaledagileframework.com/case-studies/

  20. QSR International: Coding Tool for Qualtitaive Analysis. http://www.qsrinternational.com/nvivo/support-overview/downloads

  21. Keele, S., et al.: Guidelines for performing systematic literature reviews in software engineering. In: Technical report, Ver. 2.3 EBSE Technical Report. EBSE. sn (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Khalid, H., Ahmed, M., Sameer, A., Arif, F.: Systematic literature review of agile scalability for large scale projects. Int. J. Adv. Comput. Sci. Appl. (IJACSA) 6(9), 63–75 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Kuhrmann, M., et al.: Hybrid software and system development in practice: waterfall, scrum, and beyond. In: Proceedings of the 2017 International Conference on Software and System Process, pp. 30–39. ACM (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Larman, C., Vodde, B.: Practices for Scaling Lean & Agile Development: Large, Multisite, and Offshore Product Development with Large-scale Scrum. Pearson Education, London (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Leffingwell, D.: Scaling Software Agility: Best Practices for Large Enterprises. Pearson Education, Boston (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Moe, N.B., Dingsøyr, T.: Emerging research themes and updated research agenda for large-scale agile development: a summary of the 5th international workshop at xp2017. In: Proceedings of the XP2017 Scientific Workshops, p. 14. ACM (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Moe, N.B., Olsson, H.H., Dingsøyr, T.: Trends in large-scale agile development: a summary of the 4th workshop at xp2016. In: Proceedings of the Scientific Workshop Proceedings of XP2016, p. 1. ACM (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Myrbakken, H., Colomo-Palacios, R.: DevSecOps: a multivocal literature review. In: Mas, A., Mesquida, A., O’Connor, R.V., Rout, T., Dorling, A. (eds.) SPICE 2017. CCIS, vol. 770, pp. 17–29. Springer, Cham (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67383-7_2

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  29. One, V.: State of Agile Survey. https://explore.versionone.com/state-of-agile/versionone-12th-annual-state-of-agile-report

  30. Pancholi, A., Grover, S.: Scaled agile framework: a blight. Int. J. Innov. Res. Dev. 3(5) (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Rafi, D.M., Moses, K.R.K., Petersen, K., Mäntylä, M.V.: Benefits and limitations of automated software testing: systematic literature review and practitioner survey. In: Proceedings of the 7th International Workshop on Automation of Software Test, pp. 36–42. IEEE Press (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Razavi, A.M., Ahmad, R.: Agile development in large and distributed environments: a systematic literature review on organizational, managerial and cultural aspects. In: 2014 8th Malaysian Software Engineering Conference (MySEC), pp. 216–221. IEEE (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Rolland, K.H., Fitzgerald, B., Dingsøyr, T., Stol, K.J.: Problematizing agile in the large: alternative assumptions for large-scale agile development (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Tom, E., Aurum, A., Vidgen, R.: An exploration of technical debt. J. Syst. Softw. 86(6), 1498–1516 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Uludağ, Ö., Kleehaus, M., Xu, X., Matthes, F.: Investigating the role of architects in scaling agile frameworks. In: 2017 IEEE 21st International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference (EDOC), pp. 123–132. IEEE (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  36. Vaidya, A.: Does dad know best, is it better to do less or just be safe? Adapting scaling agile practices into the enterprise. In: PNSQC. ORG, pp. 1–18 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  37. Zhou, X., Jin, Y., Zhang, H., Li, S., Huang, X.: A map of threats to validity of systematic literature reviews in software engineering. In: 2016 23rd Asia-Pacific Software Engineering Conference (APSEC), pp. 153–160. IEEE (2016)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland

    Abheeshta Putta, Maria Paasivaara & Casper Lassenius

  2. IT University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Maria Paasivaara

  3. Simula Research Laboratory, Oslo, Norway

    Casper Lassenius

Authors
  1. Abheeshta Putta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Maria Paasivaara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Casper Lassenius
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Abheeshta Putta .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Technische Universität Clausthal, Goslar, Germany

    Marco Kuhrmann

  2. Leibniz University Hannover, Hannover, Germany

    Kurt Schneider

  3. University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia

    Dietmar Pfahl

  4. Okayama Prefectural University, Okayama, Japan

    Sousuke Amasaki

  5. QAware GmbH, Munich, Germany

    Marcus Ciolkowski

  6. Chalmers | University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Regina Hebig

  7. IT University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Paolo Tell

  8. Leibniz University Hannover, Hannover, Germany

    Jil Klünder

  9. Clausthal University of Technology, Goslar, Germany

    Steffen Küpper

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Putta, A., Paasivaara, M., Lassenius, C. (2018). Benefits and Challenges of Adopting the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe): Preliminary Results from a Multivocal Literature Review. In: Kuhrmann, M., et al. Product-Focused Software Process Improvement. PROFES 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 11271. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03673-7_24

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03673-7_24

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-03672-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-03673-7

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation