Toward Unveiling How SAFe Framework Supports Agile in Global Software Development

Current research has shown that global software development (GSD) organizations rely on agile methods to guarantee better communication, coordination, and improved productivity. Moreover, as organizations continue to grow, they are facing large-scale global project challenges and complexity, leading to an urge to scale agile practices for better coordination. However, it has been surprising to find that approaches in the literature on scaling agile for large and global projects remain unclear. In addition, to identify and highlight which agile scales practices reported in studies on Agile GSD (AGSD) are related to SAFe practices, we conducted a systematic literature review. Besides, we mapped AGSD practices to the SAFe 5.0 framework to provide bases for those starting on such a journey. In our study, we found 24 articles related to the scaling of agile practices in a global environment, and 44 scaling agile practices that embrace 95 SAFe 5.0 components, including “agile coaching,” “agile architecture,” and “system demo”. This study provides an in-depth scientific investigation on how SAFe can be associated with global teams applying GSD. The results and findings will benefit researchers and practitioners in conducting further research and provide more dedicated solutions for challenges to scaling agile in the context of GSD.