PPM, which stands for Program Portfolio Management is representing people who come with superior-level strategy as well as fiduciary decision-making liability within the framework. In bigger enterprises, there could be different SAFe Portfolios and each of them assists to manage a series of initiatives, usually in the department level or business unit. Every SAFe portfolio comes with a PPM function in which the responsibilities for SIF (Strategy & Investment Funding), Program Management & Governance rest with business executives and managers who understand the enterprise commercial strategy, financial constraints and technology.
They have ultimate responsibility and obligation for defining or implementing their share of the general enterprise strategy. They are usually assisted in such duties through a Project/Program Management Office or PMO that shares liability for guiding governance and program execution. The enterprises may make use of different roles and titles for fulfilling these functions. Or, perhaps, there are no departments and official names for some. Nevertheless, efficient fulfillment of duties and responsibilities is important for success.
PPM or Program Portfolio Management represents people with primary duty for Strategy & Investment Funding, Governance and Program Management in a particular SAFe portfolio. The organizations can use various roles and titles to fulfill such responsibilities or there could be an official section for PPM. Program Portfolio Management comes with the liability to join within the establishment as well as communication of strategic themes which guide the enterprises strategy and investment, determine the related value streams then allocate budgets to them, describe and prioritize through KPIs or key performance indicators.
The effective and successful fulfillment of such responsibilities is the prerequisite for the success of your business. On the other hand, the historical usage of a waterfall model, combined with quite natural proclivity to institute top and down authority on software development triggered the industry to accept and adopt some behaviors and mindsets like maximize utilization, are widget engineering are discussed at length in one and two.
SAFe defines the series of 7 transformational patterns which be utilized to move the company to Lean Agile Program Portfolio Management, shown in Figure 3. Such transformational patterns assist people to better understand the right way to fulfill primary responsibilities which involve strategy & investment funding, governance and program management yet in a more efficient Lean Agile approach. The resolution of investment and strategy funding is supporting the execution of business strategy by means of programs which are developing and maintaining the value added services and products of the company. The streams of value are fostered, identified, monitored or consistently enhanced. Investment funding has been allocated to ongoing, current programs as well as the new initiatives in line with recent strategic themes and business strategy. Supplementary lean practices assist the enterprise meet the economic goals of it. These involve the following:
– Lean-agile budgeting
– Demand management & consistent value flow
– Epics & lightweight business cases
Program management supports & guides efficient program execution. Whilst this responsibility depends primarily inside the Agile Release Trains, VSE, Value Streams & Release Train Engineer, the Program Portfolio Management could help in creating, developing, harvesting and applying effective program implementation patterns all over the portfolio. In most organizations, the RTEs and VSEs are part of PMO, in which they could share best practices, typical program reporting and measures. In some other cases, they will report this to the development association.

–Slimane Zouggari

Enterprise architects are rising in the SAFe and agile enterprise scene. They are becoming one of the most important people in the realization and implementation of concrete technology and development of agile business models. But what exactly is the role of enterprise architects and how important are they in the agile methodology?
What is an Enterprise Architect?
The enterprise architect and his team are the people who define and distribute the technical roadmap needed for support of the business’s short-term and long-term objectives. On that note, the enterprise architect is the person who has to know all about the architectural forces and technological components that would allow him to deliver a transitional architecture.
Enterprise architects work with system architects and business stakeholders in order to drive holistic implementation of technology all over the programs. The nature of their job counts for them relying heavily on continues feedback in order to promote adaptive design, engineer practices and drive collaboration between programs and teams in the same technical vision.
The Responsibilities of Enterprise Architects
The very responsibilities of enterprise architects are focused on specific responsibilities. These responsibilities include maintaining high level and holistic vision in terms of development initiatives and enterprise solutions. They also help in defining key initiatives in support of Budgets using architectural epics. The enterprise architect also participates in developing strategy to build and maintain the agile enterprise architectural runway.
As an enterprise architect, they understand strategic themes as well as other business drivers in architecture. They understand system architects, the role they play and communicate technical decisions. It is also the enterprise architect’s job to collect, generate as well as analyze any innovative idea and technology that can be applied in SAFe or Scaled Agile Framework. Similarly, they re-use any ideas, proven patterns and components that can be used for realizing the architectural framework.
The Enterprise Architectural Strategy
One of the important responsibilities of the enterprise architect is the enterprise architectural strategy. In terms this, one should know that the enterprise’s capability embracing organization change is a very competitive advantage and a principal constituent of the enterprise architectural strategy. There are five elements within the strategy which includes:
• Choice and Usage of Technology – Selecting the right technologies that can best support the existing Budgets.
• System Architecture Strategy – Enterprise architects works with system architects to ensure that the individual program and product strategies are aligned with the objectives of the enterprise.
• Development and Deployment Infrastructure Strategy – A key challenge on reusing configuration patterns, knowledge sharing, physical infrastructure, etc.
• Inter-Program Collaboration – Enterprise architects make sure that programs have common design practices, technology; infrastructure and have sufficient freedom.
• Implementation Strategy – An effective and agile implementation strategy is crucial in preserving the enterprise’s architectural flexibility.

These are the important elements of the enterprise architectural strategy under the enterprise architect. With the enterprise architect’s work, it is made possible to preserve the SAFe’s architectural flexibility which can very well help in an enterprise’s business needs in the future. It is clear to see how enterprise architects are important in the agile enterprise methodology.

–Slimane Zouggari

Epic Owner
Epics are what drive the most economic value in the SAFe and agile enterprise. They are containers for important initiatives designed to help in directing value streams to the larger aim in the portfolio. This is essentially what makes drives great economic value towards the enterprise. Epics are characterized as investment intensive and offer far-ranging impact.
In simple terms, Epic is like a work that cannot be completed within just a week or shorter time. In essence, Epics take a full sprint, so it says in order to be completed. In order to complete one Epic, it takes about 5 to 10 user stories. In Epic, the cost analysis, formulation, opportunity and impact are very serious matter.
Epics have wide range scope which is why implementing them is never an easy task to do. As such, Epics are broken down to smaller chunks, called stories. On that note, it is important that the role of the Epic Owner is addressed and discussed. The Epic Owners have the responsibility of managing and controlling a portfolio epic, developing business case and working directly with key stakeholders.
The Critical Role of Epic Owners in SAFe and Agile Methodology
Epic Owners are responsible for driving individual Epics. They are what drive Epics from identification going through analysis process as well as the Kanban systems. Going through these, it goes through the go/no-go decision-making process in the Program Portfolio Management. Once the Epics are accepted for implementation, Epic Owners work together with the Release Train development and Product Management team in order to commence the activities needed in achieving the epic’s business objectives.
But the role of Epic Owners does not stop there. When the Epic is successfully initiated, they still ongoing responsibilities of stewarding and following on the Epic. The Epic Owner can return to other responsibilities or take up other epics when the current epic is successfully incorporated to the Program Backlogs. Only during this time that implementation can be securely assumed as it is the time when the program has full responsibility for the delivery of solutions.
In SAFe, the role of Epic Owner can be taken by a project manager, product manager, system architect, enterprise architect, program manager, product manager or any other stakeholder that is well-suited to this important responsibility. As it is a role and not a job title, SAFe allows for different individuals to assume the role as long as it falls in their area of expertise. Epic Owners generally work on one or two Epics according to their business mission.
The Collaborative Work of the Epic Owner
The responsibilities of Epic Owner are varied and wide in scope. They work with different stakeholders in defining the epic and the potential benefits. They also establish the delay cost as well as identify potential business sponsors and many other tasks until the presentation and implementation of the Epic.
The very role of Epic Owner is collaborative in nature as they work with different people and teams in the agile enterprise to realize the benefits of the epic. In short, they are those that fill in the gaps within the organizations in order to ensure that the vision is realized and that the epic-driven features are consistent and achievable.

–Slimane Zouggari