Amidst Large-Scale Frameworks

But where would this course fit amidst large-scale frameworks?

The following is a brief explanation of where the course fits when applying large-scale frameworks across organizations.

Enterprise architecture frameworks

Some chapters (e.g., Organizations, Subdomains, and Microservices) in this course solve problems similar to those addressed by The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) and other enterprise architecture guides (Gartner EA).

Note: The course refers to TOGAF for simplicity instead of generalizing the comparison with the entire area. Most of the points will apply to other frameworks too.

TOGAF is a leading approach for enterprise architecture, and it is proven to be useful over the decades. Many large organizations choose to use TOGAF for its reputation and all-in-one nature. It covers various topics starting from business architecture through governance and execution of enterprise activities. Various approaches described in the course can be seen as a basis of a modern, lighter-weight, and scalable enterprise architecture framework. I firmly believe that the structures described here will suffice and can be adapted by many organizations without the necessity of opting into heavier-weight frameworks, such as TOGAF.

Nevertheless, this course is not an alternative to TOGAF as a whole; the two publications have distinct purposes and problem scopes. Therefore, they propose different solutions.

SAFe - Scaled Agile Framework

SAFe stands on several core values, such as Agile, Lean, and Systems Thinking. Overall, this framework helps organizations align their large-size efforts across the enterprise by treating deliverables as increments for the entire company.

For the described idea to be successful (besides process enhancements), we need technical ownership and transformation in areas, such as applications, systems, enterprise architectures, DevOps, and CI/CD to name a few. The practice has shown that without such supporting mechanisms, SAFe can quickly become an artificial shell around unsolved technology challenges that fall outside of the Agile framework’s focus. You can fill in the gap through this course, which provides technical guidelines for implementing high-quality, large-scale solutions.

To outline compatibility between the two areas of study, here is how this course fits into SAFe’s core values:

• Part II: Crosscutting concerns will explain how enterprise-wide architectures need to be formed based on the same Systems Thinking competency as SAFe.
• An Agile process which comprises SAFe’s core values is a possible (although not mandatory) approach when applying techniques described in this course.
• While also being part of SAFe competencies, Lean development is an essential enabler of this course, such as validating product hypotheses before implementing full-fledged solutions.

For all those synergies described above, this course can become your supporting mechanism when implementing SAFe or other organizational process initiatives.