What Is A SAFe Program Consultant (SPC)?

Eelco Rustenburg, a SAFe Program Consultant Trainer (SPCT), explains in this video why it is incredibly important to follow a training on the topic of Implementing SAFe. According to Eelco, we are in an age where everyone is adopting the Agile and Lean principles. The SPC training helps them take things a step further to embrace innovation and facilitate growth.

The SAFe Program Consultant (SPC) takes the lead in implementing SAFe according to the SAFe principles and is responsible for setting up the new organisation. Do you want to know more about the SPC course and the value of the SPC certification? Senior Trainer Andres Jansen elaborates on the value of being an SPC in our blog. Click on the picture on the left to read about the tasks of the SPC and the importance of this role.

Training executives, managers, and leaders on the SAFe framework
Socializing the new concepts and providing orientation and overview training.

Identifying Value Streams and the Agile Release Train
Working with stakeholders to understand the flow of value; SPCs identify value streams and ARTs to find those that are the most opportunistic for launch.

Creating the implementation plan
Participating in the creation of a plan for the rollout, communicate upcoming changes, and establish metrics.

Coaching ART execution
The SPCs coach leaders and stakeholders are responsible for building and maintaining the Vision, Roadmap, and Program Backlogs. They coach teams, Product Owners, Product Managers, Architects, and RTEs. They also participate in the Scrum of Scrums and System Demo, facilitate I&A, and follow-up on improvement items. Finally, they help teams establish a DevOps culture and mindset, focusing extensively on the Continuous Delivery Pipeline, infrastructure, and associated Agile technical practices.

The Scaled Agile Framework has multiple different roles:

• A SAFe Agilist improves the adoption process of Lean-Agile mindset within an organisation.
• A Release Train Engineer keeps the Agile Trains of an organisation on track.
• A SAFe Program Consultant (SPC) is the leading agent who implements the whole SAFe framework within an organisation. Besides these roles, there are also other important SAFe roles: SAFe Scrum Master, SAFe Product Owner, and SAFe Advanced Scrum Master.
• A SAFe Scrum Master “helps educate the team in Scrum, Extreme Programming (XP), Kanban, and SAFe, ensuring that the agreed Agile process is being followed,” (Scaled Agile, Inc., 2021).
• A SAFe Product Owner is a “member of the Agile Team responsible for defining Stories and prioritizing the Team Backlog to streamline the execution of program priorities while maintaining the conceptual and technical integrity of the Features or components for the team,” (Scaled Agile, Inc., 2021).