Build and execute the best implementation rollout strategy for your organization

Big organizational changes require vision and a steady hand. To implement a successful Lean-Agile SAFe® transformation, become a leading agent for change as a SAFe® 4 Program Consultant (SPC). Take responsibility for setting up the new organizational structure, enabling your enterprise to succeed in a disruptive marketplace. Train teams, help colleagues and get the organization moving in the right direction.

 

This four-day Implementing SAFe course will teach you how to lead a Lean-Agile transformation by leveraging the practices and principles of the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe®), as well as the five core competencies of the Lean Enterprise. For those of us already working with Lean/Agile on a daily basis, this program provides you with a deeper understanding of its principles and practices.

You will also gain insights and practice how to coach programs, launch Agile Release Trains, build a Continuous Delivery Pipeline with DevOps culture, and build a Lean Portfolio.

The first two days of the course—Leading SAFe®—are all about the basics you need to teach SAFe to leaders. The final two days focus exclusively on what it takes to successfully implement SAFe in your organization. After taking the SAFe 4 Program Consultant Exam, you’ll certify as a SAFe® 4 Program Consultant (SPC).

 

Our Implementing SAFe courses are taught by one or two SPCTs (SAFe Program Consultant Trainers). These inspiring trainers are consultants who are active in the field and have extensive SAFe experience in training and implementing SAFe at large organizations.

 

 

Stepping up to SPC

Blog: Stepping up to SPC
The value of becoming a certified SAFe Program Consultant

 

During this four-day course you will learn to:

  • Lead an enterprise Lean-Agile transformation
  • Implement the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
  • Build a Lean Portfolio
  • Align the organization to a common language and way of working
  • Perform Value Stream identification
  • Launch and coach Agile Release Trains
  • Coordinate multiple Agile Release Trains with a Solution Train
  • Build and execute an implementation rollout strategy
  • Configure the Framework for a specific enterprise context
  • Train managers and executives in Leading SAFe®
  • Continue their learning journey and become enabled to train other SAFe roles in the enterprise

 

 After:

When you pass the Implementing SAFe exam, you’ll receive a SAFe® 4 SAFe Program Consultant (SPC4) certificate, with a digital badge to promote your accomplishment online. A one-year certified membership as a SAFe Program Consultant is also included, granting you access to the SPC Community of Practice. Furthermore, we’ll provide you with a SAFe Program Consultant certification usage guide with SPC certification marks.

 

As a SAFe Program Consultant, you’ll have access to online Trainer Enablement plans to qualify to teach and certify others in Leading SAFe (SAFe Agilist SA), SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager (POPM), SAFe Scrum Master (SSM), SAFe Advanced Scrum Master (SASM), and SAFe for Teams (SAFe Practitioner (SP). You’ll also be able to access a variety of learning resources to support certified professionals during and throughout their SAFe journey.

 

Didn’t pass the exam? You can try again! Each new attempt will cost $250.

Four-day training program

The Implementing SAFe course is a four-day training program. Each course day starts at8:30 and ends at 17:30, and includes a [30-minute] lunch break and [an afternoon break].

 

During the program, we’ll go into the following topics:

Day 1 & 2: Leading SAFe®

  • Introducing the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
  • Becoming a Lean-Agile Leader
  • Creating High-Performing Teams and Trains
  • Experiencing Program Increment (PI) Planning
  • Releasing on Demand with DevOps
  • Building a Lean Portfolio
  • Leading the Transformation
  • About the Exam

Day 3 & 4: Implementing SAFe®

  • Reaching the SAFe Tipping Point
  • Designing the Implementation
  • Launching an ART
  • Coaching ART Execution
  • Extending to the Portfolio
  • Sustaining and Improving
  • Becoming a SAFe 4 Program Consultant (SPC)

 

Prerequisites

Anyone part of a Lean-Agile transformation is welcome to attend the Implementing SAFe course, regardless of role or experience.

For those who intend to take the SAFe® 4 Program Consultant certification exam and practice as a SAFe® 4 Program Consultant (SPC), the following prerequisites are highly recommended:

  • 5+ years of experience in software development, testing, business analysis, product, or project management;
  • 3+ years of experience in Agile;
  • one or more relevant Agile certifications.

 

Exam Details

  • Exam name – SAFe 4 Program Consultant Exam
  • Exam format – Multiple choice
  • Exam delivery – Web-based (single-browser), closed book, no outside assistance, timed
  • Exam access – Candidates can access the exam within the SAFe Community Platform upon completion of the Implementing SAFe 4.5 course.
  • Exam duration – Once the exam begins, candidates have 120 minutes (2 hours) to complete the exam.
  • Number of questions – 60
  • Passing score – 45 out of 60 (75% pass rate)
  • Language – English
  • Exam cost – The first exam attempt is included as part of the course registration fee, if the exam is taken within 30 days of course completion. Each retake attempt costs $250.
  • Retake policy – A second attempt on the exam (first retake) can be done immediately after the first attempt. The third attempt requires a 10-day wait. A fourth attempt requires a 30-day wait. Contact support@scaledagile.com for any questions about the retake policy.

 

Professional Development Units (PDUs) and Scrum Education Units (SEUs)

Attending this course means that you may be eligible to apply for 30 PDUs toward your continuing education requirements with the Project Management Institute (PMI) for PMP, PgMP, and PMI-ACP certifications.

You may also be eligible to apply for SEUs under category C, toward earning or renewing your CSP through Scrum Alliance.

For more information about your eligibility or the application process, please contact your local institution.

Audience

Your organization is on its way to adopt SAFe. The Implementing SAFe course is intended for everyone who will be materially and directly involved in this adoption. This includes practitioners, change agents, and consultants responsible for implementing Agile programs and portfolios as part of an enterprise Lean-Agile change initiative.

After completing this training program, you’ll be able to coach and guide your organization to succeed in a disruptive marketplace and implement a Lean-Agile SAFe transformation.
 
Course attendees typically include:

  • Professional Services Consultants
  • Internal Change Agents, Lean-Agile Center for Excellence, Agile Working Groups
  • Business and Technology Executives and Leaders, Managers, Directors
  • Portfolio Managers and Fiduciaries, Project/Program Management Office (PMO) personnel
  • Development, QA and IT management
  • Program and Project Managers
  • Product and Product Line Managers
  • Process Leads and Lifecycle Governance Personnel
  • Enterprise, System and Solution Architects
    • TypeCourse
    • Period 4 days
    • Maximum number of participants:18
    • Level:Advanced
    • Language:English
    • Lunch included:Yes
    • Exam:Yes
    • Incompany:Yes
    • Payment methods:Invoice, iDEAL, CreditCard
    • Examinator:Logo
    • Shishir Nigam - Review: 8/10
      Detailed case studies ( variety of), some pre-reading/ video viewing material sent in advance so trainees are better prepared ( with a possible mock test).
    • Dirk Naumann - Review: 8/10
      The Trainer had a lot of experience. The Indian Accent was to strong and hes Speed was to fast. The room was to small for the size of the Group.
    • Alexandra Nicula - Review: 7/10
      theoretical and no real focus on exercises when time was too short
    • Andreas Hoelscher - Review: 9/10
      The mix between informational slides, Reports from real projectbased experiences, the Knowledge sharing of the attendees was very good. Slides were too much, Information very compressed and intense, End of Day too early. Not enough time somehow. As usual for Trainings on this Level.
    • Martijn Verheule - Review: 9/10
      I liked everything. Trainers, materials, etc etc
    • Isabelle Kraemer - Review: 8/10
      Many pratical examples, a lot of content and great mentors.
    • Roger Balcombe - Review: 9/10
      Liked: Competent teachers, different media used, practical exercises, videos used to explain concepts. Could be improved: A consistent case study to use to apply the methods through the course would be better; even less powerpoint, which was a bit gruelling at times.
    • Liliana Mikulik - Review: 10/10
      Good examples from operational practice, which helped a lot in understanding SAFe
    • Daniela Resch - Review: 8/10
      Liked: Examples from the real world, hands-on approach to teaching, two instructors (different perspectives on the same content), WhatsApp group for staying in touch, venue & food. Improve: The last day ended quite abruptly. Since the group has grown quite close in those 4 days, it would have been great to have a bit more 'emotional' closing (e.g. standing in a circle and asking the group what they learned or are grateful for from the past days).
    • Sara BahramaliÊ - Review: 8/10
      The content of the course was relevant and there was a good balance of theory and practice during the course. However, there is an improvement opportunity for structuring the content, for example showing the big picture before starting a new chapter to remind the participants of the holistic view and how different chapters are related as a coherent whole. Also it would be good to consider knowledge and familiarity level of all participants. Some terms and abbreviations and even concepts are not easy to follow without prior background.
    • Vidmantas Malakauskas - Review: 10/10
      I liked instructors: their knowledge, experience, interaction with audience. Venue was also ok, coffee breaks, lunch etc.
    • Hans Cornips - Review: 9/10
      The SAFe layers for large solution and portfolio didn't have the same depth as the layers team and program which I found a little disappointing. We did some games but the theoretical part was thin.
    • RenŽ Eken - Review: 8/10
      I liked the presentation style, especially Eelco's. Also the experience in practice was a real plus. On the last two days it felt like a lot of slides had to be "pushed through". Hard to absorb.
    • ROMAIN BARELLI - Review: 8/10
      Global content of the training really good. Trainers with experience. To improve the training and enable us to re-work the exercises after the training in order to prepare the exam, you could have asked us to work on a concrete common case and to re-use it for all the exercises done (PI planning, implementing Lean Portfolio, identify value stream, launching ART...).At the end of each exercises, you could have provided 1 possible solution. (even if several solution were possible). Besides, limiting the number of people to 15 could be good to keep interesting discussions and decrease the noise.
    • REGIS MORIZUR - Review: 8/10
      I have much appreciated the course. However there were too many persons, and the room was not fitted for discussions (too noisy). It has decreased the quality of the exchanges. Additionally, at the beginning, the course was led by 2 instructors, 1 in front of us, the other behind us. it was inconvenient, as it required we turn frequently to face the one speaking.
    • Annette Driller - Review: 8/10
      I like: well edicated and especially well experienced Trainers (with deep practical experience), short, but crisp exercises, strong structure of the Course What can be improved: a Little bit more room for discussion/questions/Experience sharing
    • Rudolf Pfriender - Review: 9/10
      class room in the first 2 days was too small. godd experienced trainers. A little bit of a hurry going through the chapters in time. Very little time for discussions about excercises and opinions
    • Vytautas Taujanskas - Review: 8/10
      The course content is aggregation of many ideas in one place. It can be better prepared to be more consolidated
    • Benoit Gobert - Review: 7/10
      I liked the deep dive into SAFe framework. What could be improved is more preparation exercises for the exam.
    • Virginia Corvino - Review: 9/10
      Since I had already attended the leading SAFe class, the first two days were a bit long. The other two were really interesting, full of role games helping understanding how to handle coaching on a train.
    • Antonio Domingo Medina - Review: 8/10
      Liked it overall, trainers were excellent. I miss more depth and a prescriptive approach to implement LPM and Lean Budgets
    • Marta Carrasco - Review: 9/10
      The trainers were good. Good documentation. The training was a bit intensive the first day. Maybe a different arrangement could work better (4,5 days instead of 4.. ) The training location was not very fit for a training (round tables set-up made body postures forced and uncomfortable, food was monotonous and scarce for vegetarians)
    • Daniel Santiago - Review: 8/10
      The first 2 days are the same as the Leading SAFe, a course I already did, so it was a bit repetitive. it may be worth to review the training journey to avoid this. The second 2 days are dedicated to the roadmap, and when going to the Portfolio level, I had the feeling SAFe does not provide a complete and reliable framework as it does for the Team and Program levels. The trainers were very good, enthusiastic, engaging audience, etc. Fully recommendable, as well as having two trainers help audience to keep the engagement, and trainers to rest :) Games and dynamics: Kahoot cool one, videos so so, games done in the training so so too.
    • Georg Blume-Schulz - Review: 9/10
      The course was awesome and interesting. The only thing I'd love to see improved is the slide-deck as it was really really REALLY text heavy and not as complementary. I'm aware that this is a tough challenge for a centralized slide deck but still ... :)
    • Brigitte Thie - Review: 9/10
      Great teachers, good balance between theory and practice. Location was good as was the food.
    • Jacco van der Bij - Review: 8/10
      Trainers were enthusiastic, knowledgeable and energetic. Good job in general. With a bit more screening of some of the questions we would have benefitted more from some of the planned exercises. In terms of content, it was more IT-development focussed than what I had expected.
    • Jan Klabbers - Review: 8/10
      Nice trainers, very entertaining and knowledgable. Course packed, long days, last hours of the day not to effective.
    • Gonda Storms - Review: 8/10
      The experience of the teacher who was able to link theory to practice was very good. The exercises and the start of the exercises could be better prepared. Although doing exercises helps you a lot in understanding the theory.
    • Marc Burggraaff - Review: 8/10
      A lot of content. Would have liked more time spent on implementing SAFe. Trainers very good en experienced.
    • Faroek Lalmahomed - Review: 8/10
      The setup was good. Although there was a lot of theorie the course leader was able to combine that with practical aspects.
    • Davor Basic - Review: 9/10
      Good balance between theory and exercises. But more exercises could help to deepen the knowledge, for example to make the interaction of roles, events, artefacts and the resulting pitfalls more comprehensible. Odile's support was excellent and location was great. I'm looking forward to the next training session in December :-)
    • Michel Grouwstra - Review: 8/10
      Top:Nice atmosphere and lots of humour created by the trainers. A lot of examples out of real life and experience. Tip: The knowledge of Lean of the trainers could be extended more in depth. The Implementatie part of the SPC training did not get that much attention as the Leading Safe part.
    • Zdravco Kovacevic - Review: 9/10
      It is nice to have international collega's in the course - exchange experience. Coach has also big experience and hi can motivate people! to improve: the student group was too big - 30 people
    • Nikita Poselyanov - Review: 10/10
      Everything was awesome, trainers, organization all!
    • Victor do Rosario - Review: 9/10
      Top: The trainers were inspiring and had a lot of experience in change-management. There was room for questions. Tips: It would have been nice, for example, after course day 1 to immediately do an online business case or exercise. This has the advantage that what you have practiced during this course day can apply immediately. There was a student who constantly asked questions about situations within his company and that sometimes went too deep. Occasionally this caused irritations. Small group of 20 people and better separation between people with a lot of Safe experience and no Safe experience.
    • Jessica van der Linden - Review: 7/10
      It prepares you well on the contents of giving a leading SAFe training. However the focus for me (being particully interested in the implementation part) could have been more on the implementing part such as value stream definition and portfolio management. Eelco and Niels are a great combination in energy and didactic skills
    • Brice Rachete - Review: 8/10
      Le duo de formateur était au top. Une répartition des thèmes très bien faite avec une alternance de théorie et d'atelier en équipe très réussi. L'accueil était également très bien, durant ces 4 jours nous avons été soigné et chouchouté.
    • Frédéric GENDRE - Review: 8/10
      Very clear.
    • Emmanuel Ventura-Villenueva - Review: 9/10
      Very helpful content and a good trainer with lot of experiences.
    • Alexis Bonnerat - Review: 10/10
      The trainers were very good, well prepared, able to keep the group dynamic on track and cover all topics. The location could have been more central / accessible, and please, provide a room "with a view": spending 4 days in a room without natural light is not convenient. For this I'm not sure I would recommend Gladwell over other training centers.
    • Jean Pierre Vickoff - Review: 8/10
      Rien a redire tout était parfaitement organisé.
    • Laurent Thomas - Review: 8/10
      I liked the exercises. I wished I could have had a little more time for reviewing the Fundamentals (vocabulary, general architecture, ...)
    • Nicolas Umiastowski - Review: 7/10
      Very weel time-boxed by the trainers : we made all the slides and activities in time + questions and open space There was a problem with the venue : very cold room,no heating, and the windows were colsed but very thin, so the cold entered from the outside !
    • Amit Anand - Review: 9/10
      It was a great learning experience and huge content covered in 4 days !
    • Rohan Pawar - Review: 9/10
      Training was excellent.
    • Rashmi Mallikarjuna - Review: 8/10
      Practice sessions and real time examples by the coach was very good
    • Richa Kalra - Review: 9/10
      Trainer was very good .most of the concepts were clear but inclusion of case studies will help more
    • Vikram Vaishampayan - Review: 8/10
      Experience was very good.