Author: Dr. Thomas Baxter

As an executive leader, I know Agile can produce great results. Why would I not want to jump on board the bandwagon? My organization can do more with the same amount of people. All we need to do is change some processes that we use.  

I encourage or direct my groups to implement a new framework to accelerate all the above improvements and come back to me with a budget for what it will take. The opposite side of the coin can also be proper. Why would executives expect that implementing Agile would take this level of change? Did anyone tell them how the organization needs to change and how much they will need to be involved in the transformation? Probably not.  

During a practice meeting at my organization, a team member mentioned taking a class on LeSS (Large-Scale Scrum). Many questions were asked as to how LeSS differed from SAFe. I volunteered to present a comparison in a later meeting. The larger Agile community might benefit from this information as well. The below article will attempt to answer the following questions:

• What are the differences?  
• Why do companies choose one over the other?
• How do the roles differ?
• How do the events differ?
• How do the certifications?
• What percentage of organizations use SAFe vs. LeSS?
• Does the organizational structure differ?
• What are the pros and cons of implementation?
• What is the average cost and time of education?
• What is the average time to fully implement?
• When was SAFe vs. LeSS published?
• Geographically, where is SAFe vs. LeSS being adopted?

What Are the Differences Between SAFe and LeSS Frameworks?  

SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) and LeSS (Large-Scale Scrum) are both frameworks used for scaling Agile practices to large organizations, but they have different approaches and principles.