Enterprise-scale organizations developing complex systems face unique challenges that exceed the capacity of a single Agile Release Train (ART). When your solution requires hundreds or even thousands of practitioners across multiple ARTs, coordination becomes critical. The Solution Train represents SAFe's answer to this challenge, providing essential structure for alignment, integration, and delivery across the enterprise.

This article explores how organizations effectively coordinate multiple ARTs through the Solution Train mechanism, highlighting the specific practices, roles, and events that drive successful large-scale solution development.

The Challenge of Scale

Large solutions typically span organizational boundaries, technologies, and domains. Think aerospace systems, automotive platforms, enterprise software suites, or global financial networks. These complex environments include:

• Multiple ARTs working toward a unified solution
• Cross-functional teams with diverse backgrounds and expertise
• Distributed development across geographic locations
• Complex dependencies requiring precise coordination
• Integration challenges across various components and subsystems

When an organization reaches this scale, standard ART practices alone prove insufficient. Additional coordination layers become necessary.

The Solution Train: An Overview

The Solution Train serves as the coordination and integration layer for multiple ARTs developing a single large solution. Consider it the "train of trains" that establishes the rhythm and synchronization across the entire solution development effort.

Much like individual ARTs, the Solution Train operates on a cadence, with defined roles, events, and artifacts. Unlike individual ARTs focused on specific components or capabilities, the Solution Train maintains holistic oversight of the entire solution lifecycle.

Key Solution Train Roles

The effectiveness of coordination depends heavily on clearly defined roles with specific responsibilities:

Solution Train Engineer (STE) The STE serves as the chief Scrum Master for the Solution Train, facilitating all major solution events, addressing impediments, and ensuring smooth operations. STEs need deep knowledge of SAFe Agilist certification principles, as they drive implementation across the solution. The STE collaborates closely with Release Train Engineers (RTEs) to coordinate dependencies and mitigate risks.

Solution Management Solution Management represents the customer voice at the solution level, defining and prioritizing solution capabilities and features across ARTs. They maintain the solution vision, roadmap, and economic framework while collaborating with Product Management teams within each ART.

Solution Architect/Engineering These technical leaders establish the architectural runway for the entire solution, ensuring technical governance, enablement, and strategic architectural direction. They define interfaces between components developed by different ARTs and provide guidance on critical cross-cutting concerns like security, performance, and scalability.

Solution Level Roles Additional roles at the solution level include Business Owners, Customers, and specialists who provide domain expertise across multiple ARTs.

Coordinating Through Solution Events

The Solution Train uses synchronization events to align multiple ARTs toward solution objectives:

Pre-PI Planning

Pre-PI Planning represents a critical event where context and direction for upcoming PI Planning sessions get established. Key activities include:

• Reviewing the solution vision and roadmap
• Presenting upcoming solution capabilities
• Identifying cross-ART dependencies
• Discussing architectural guidance and enablers
• Setting planning context for individual ARTs

STEs facilitate this event with Solution Management and Solution Architects/Engineers providing essential content. RTEs, Product Management, and System Architects from each ART participate to understand implications for their teams.

Solution PI Planning

While each ART conducts its own PI Planning, the Solution Train coordinates these efforts through Solution PI Planning. This multi-day event typically follows this structure:

Day 1: Individual ARTs conduct PI Planning with awareness of the broader solution context.

Day 2: ARTs continue planning, addressing identified dependencies with other ARTs.

End of Day 2: Representatives from each ART (typically RTEs, Product Management, System Architects) meet in a "Scrum of Scrums" format to resolve cross-ART dependencies, adjust plans, and ensure alignment.

Day 3: ARTs finalize their plans based on cross-ART alignment discussions, producing their program board, PI objectives, and capacity allocation.

The Leading SAFe Training emphasizes how critical this coordination becomes when multiple ARTs depend on each other.

Solution Demo

While each ART conducts its own System Demo, the Solution Demo integrates work across ARTs to showcase the complete solution. This demo:

• Occurs at least once per PI
• Demonstrates integrated functionality across ART boundaries
• Includes participation from all ARTs contributing to the solution
• Provides feedback on the complete solution rather than individual components
• Allows stakeholders to evaluate progress holistically

Solution Inspect & Adapt

This event operates similarly to the ART-level Inspect & Adapt but focuses on solution-level metrics, obstacles, and improvement initiatives. The solution retrospective identifies broader impediments affecting multiple ARTs, leading to coordinated improvement efforts.

Integration Practices for Multi-ART Solutions

Beyond formal events, several practices drive ongoing coordination:

Solution Kanban

The Solution Kanban visualizes the flow of solution capabilities from concept to deployment. Unlike ART-level Kanbans focused on features, the Solution Kanban tracks larger capabilities that may span multiple PIs and ARTs, providing transparency into solution-level work.

Solution Coordination Meetings

Regular synchronization occurs through:

Solution Scrum of Scrums: RTEs, key stakeholders, and the STE meet weekly to address cross-ART dependencies, risks, and impediments.

Solution Product Owner Sync: Solution Management meets regularly with Product Management representatives from each ART to align on priorities, scope, and customer needs.

Architect Sync: Solution Architects/Engineers meet with System Architects from each ART to address technical dependencies, standards, and integration points.

Organizations with Certified SAFe Agilist professionals often implement these practices more effectively, as they better understand the framework's coordination mechanisms.

Solution Intent

Solution Intent serves as the single source of truth for solution requirements, design decisions, and compliance information. This evolving repository:

• Manages solution-level knowledge
• Captures fixed and variable solution aspects
• Documents interfaces between components developed by different ARTs
• Ensures regulatory compliance at the solution level
• Provides transparency on solution decisions for all teams

Continuous Integration Infrastructure

Technical enablement for coordination requires:

• Shared CI/CD pipelines that integrate components from multiple ARTs
• Automated testing across ART boundaries
• Solution-level definition of done
• Standardized environments for integration testing
• Solution-level metrics and reporting

Dependency Management Across ARTs

Dependencies represent one of the greatest challenges when coordinating multiple ARTs. Effective solutions include:

Program Dependency Board: During Solution PI Planning, a program dependency board visualizes cross-ART dependencies, making them visible to all stakeholders.

Dependency Tracking System: Many organizations implement tools to track dependencies with clear ownership, due dates, and status updates.

Enabler Features: Technical enablers that address dependencies get prioritized across ARTs to remove blockers proactively.

Interface Definition: Solution Architecture defines clear interfaces between components developed by different ARTs, reducing integration risk.

Design Workshops: Cross-ART design workshops resolve technical dependencies before implementation begins.

The SAFe Agilist certification training provides valuable insights into these dependency management strategies.

Solution Roadmap and Vision

Strategic alignment across ARTs requires a compelling solution vision and roadmap that:

• Communicates the solution's purpose and value
• Maps capabilities to specific timeframes
• Identifies major milestones across all ARTs
• Aligns with enterprise strategic themes
• Guides prioritization decisions across ARTs

Solution Management maintains this roadmap with input from all ARTs, ensuring alignment with customer needs and market opportunities.

Handling Solution Risks

Risk management at the solution level addresses:

• Technical risks spanning multiple ARTs
• Business risks affecting the entire solution
• Schedule risks impacting solution delivery
• Compliance and regulatory risks
• Resource constraints affecting multiple ARTs

The Solution Management team maintains a solution risk register, regularly reviewing and addressing these risks through coordinated mitigation strategies.

Solution-Level Economic Framework

Funding and financial governance for large solutions requires:

• Solution-level budget allocation across ARTs
• Financial metrics for the entire solution
• Cost of delay calculations for solution capabilities
• Value stream budgeting practices
• Trade-off decisions at the portfolio level

Agile Certification programs often cover these economic frameworks, equipping leaders to make sound investment decisions.

Common Coordination Challenges and Solutions

Organizations implementing Solution Trains frequently encounter these challenges:

Misaligned Cadences: When ARTs operate on different PI cadences, synchronization becomes difficult. Organizations should align PI boundaries across ARTs or implement "offset PIs" with clear integration points.

Geographic Distribution: Distributed teams across time zones complicate coordination. Solution events may require careful scheduling and facilitation tools to accommodate all participants.

Organizational Silos: Legacy organizational structures can undermine cross-ART collaboration. Matrix organizations with strong Solution Train leadership often mitigate this challenge.

Integration Delays: Late integration leads to discovery of cross-ART issues near delivery dates. Establishing continuous integration practices across ARTs provides earlier feedback on integration issues.

Conflicting Priorities: ARTs may prioritize local optimization over solution outcomes. Strong Solution Management with clear economic prioritization frameworks helps resolve these conflicts.

Conclusion

Coordinating multiple ARTs through the Solution Train mechanism represents a sophisticated implementation of SAFe principles at enterprise scale. The coordination layers—from roles like the STE to events like Solution PI Planning—provide essential structure for aligning teams toward common objectives.

Organizations embarking on multi-ART initiatives should invest in establishing these coordination mechanisms early, focusing particular attention on dependency management, integration practices, and solution-level governance.

By implementing these practices with discipline and commitment, organizations can successfully deliver complex solutions that exceed the capacity of individual ARTs, creating value at enterprise scale while maintaining agility throughout the development process.

 

For teams looking to develop expertise in these practices, the Leading SAFe Training offers valuable insights into coordinating large-scale agile initiatives across the enterprise.

 

Also Check - How to Use Technical Stories for Creating Enablers in SAFe

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