SAFe Made Simple: Value Streams
What are Development and Operational Value Streams? How do SAFe value streams differ from those in Lean?
In my experience, most people find the concept of value streams in SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework), challenging to grasp. While the basic idea of value streams is relatively straightforward, it can be difficult to correctly apply to one’s own organizational context. Additionally, SAFe defines two types of value streams that are slightly different to what is generally understood in the Lean community (where value streams originate from).
In this article, I discuss:
- Value streams in a Lean context
- Value streams in a SAFe context
- SAFe’s use of Operational Value Streams (OVS) and Development Value Streams (DVS)
- How value streams are used in SAFe
- FAQ: How many value streams does my organization have?
Value streams in a Lean context
The concept of value streams comes from Lean and originated from Toyota and TPS (Toyota Production Systems) as far back as the 1950s. However, the term was coined in the 1990s in the book ‘The Machine That Changed the World’ (Womack, Jones and Roos) and was subsequently further documented and expanded on.
Value streams are generally defined as a sequence of activities that an organization undertakes to deliver a customer request.
In the book ‘Value Stream Mapping: How to Visualize Work and Align Leadership for Organizational Transformation’ (Martin and Osterling) the authors outline three types of value streams:
- Full value streams — When a good or service is requested and delivered to an external customer.
Examples: Emergency department patient care, a mortgage application, or new facility construction. - Support value streams — Supports the delivery of value, but doesn’t provide a good or service directly to an external customer.
Examples: Recruitment, IT support, or annual budgeting. - Value stream segments — A portion of a larger value stream.
Example: Segmenting Product Design from wider Product Delivery.
In Lean, there are some popular conventions for visualizing value streams (the process is called value stream mapping), see diagram below.
Value stream maps provide a macro perspective of the cycle of work. They often feature the customer at the twelve o’clock position and flow counter-clockwise. The trigger (start) is a customer request, and the last step is the delivery of a good or service to that customer.
Value stream maps usually have three levels:
- Information Flow — This is identifying the IT systems and applications that support work flow across the value stream.
- Workflow — This maps the process blocks i.e. the high-level activities and the functions that perform them. Generally, 5 -15 process blocks are a good starting point, and you should consider adding a new process block when the work stops/pauses. Metrics are given for each process block.
- Timeline — This usually includes a summary of time and quality metrics, including Total Process Time (PT), Total Lead Time (LT), Activity Ratio (AR), and Rolled Percentage Complete and Accurate (%C&A).
It’s worth briefly noting there are two types of value stream maps:
- Current state value stream map. This maps “What is” and gives insight into the performance of the value stream as it is today.
- Future state value stream map. This maps “What could be” and features ‘Kaizen Bursts’. It proposes a design for improvement, through eliminating waste.
Value streams in a SAFe context
Value streams are a core concept in SAFe, and although they have been referenced since the start, they have been given increased prominence in the framework over time.
SAFe has two different types of value streams: (1) Operational Value Streams (OVS), and (2) Development Value Streams (DVS) and provides patterns for both.
These patterns are helpful for two reasons:
- They help enterprises to see how value streams can be applied to their industry and context, particularly software (remember value streams originate from Lean manufacturing).
- The Development Value Stream encourages focusing early transformation efforts on building, funding, and optimizing cross-functional ARTs.
It is worth noting that Scaled Agile usually visualizes value streams as a series of horizontal chevrons. Light green for OVS, pale blue for DVS. The chevrons illustrate the process blocks in a value stream.
Operational Value Streams (OVS)
Scaled Agile defines Operational Value Streams as “the sequence of activities needed to deliver a product or service to a customer”. So, pretty much aligned with the general Lean definition.
To help guide organizations, Scaled Agile suggests four types of common OVS patterns:
- Fulfilment — Processing a customer order for a product or service, delivering it, and receiving payment.
Examples: An insurance product or a loan. - Manufacturing — Converting raw materials into a product that a customer purchases.
Example: Building consumer products (a car). - Software products — Offer and support software applications for end users or enterprises.
Examples: Providing SaaS, ERP, mobile apps, etc. - Supporting — Internal, repetitive, supporting business activities.
Examples: Hiring, annual audits, etc.
Development Value Streams (DVS)
Scaled Agile defines a Development Value Stream as “the sequence of activities to develop and support the solutions used by Operational Value Stream (OVS)”.
So, like Operational Value Streams they are a sequence of activities, however, the output is defined as developing and supporting solutions used by the OVS (more on this later).
For now, it is important to understand SAFe is talking about two types of software solutions:
- Solutions that are internal to the business. The customers are people internal to the enterprise who use these solutions to do their jobs.
- Solutions (products, services, and systems) that are used by external customers.
The other important thing to understand about the DVS is that it is essentially a pattern that describes the activities (or process blocks) that are undertaken by an Agile Release Train (ART).
In the diagram below you can see how SAFe overlays the ART, the Continous Delivery Pipeline (CE, CI, CD) and the Development Value Stream (represented by the light blue chevrons).
While the process steps for OVS can vary considerably, for DVS it is always Define> Build > Validate >Release (i.e. CE> CI> CD).
The way I like to think of Development Value Streams is they are a specific type of value stream segment that relates to an Agile Release Train’s activities (i.e. developing a software solution).
How Development Value Streams enable Operational Value Streams
The diagram below takes the third OVS pattern, Software products (which I suspect is probably the most common SAFe context), and shows three supporting DVS.
The light green chevrons are the OVS. The trigger is receiving the order, and it shows five process blocks, before the software solution, which is developed and made available to the customer.
The four teal boxes on the level below show the IT/software solutions (a customer portal, CRM, provisioning, and helpdesk solution) that enable the five OVS process blocks.
The third level shows the DVS. These are represented by the light blue chevrons. The first two DVSs develop the four IT solutions that support the five process blocks of the OVS. The final DVS, on the far right, develops the software solution that the customer uses.
How value streams are used in SAFe
As mentioned earlier, value streams are a core concept in SAFe. They are referenced in many of the main articles, as well as in the SAFe principles, the SAFe Implementation Roadmap, and in SPC workshops.
Below are some of the main places in SAFe where you will find value streams being discussed:
Fund value streams
SAFe talks about funding in the Lean Portfolio Management competency. They advise moving from a traditional approach of funding projects, to instead funding value streams.
Organize around Value/the SAFe Implementation Roadmap
Organize around Value is SAFe Principle #10 and also the sixth move in the SAFe implementation Roadmap. Both are primarily focused on identifying value streams and organizing the portfolio and ART design to support them.
Value Stream Mapping Workshop
This workshop relates to value stream mapping in the Lean context, described at the start of this article. In preparation for this workshop, the value streams (and ARTs) should already be identified and well-known.
This workshop is very much about gaining insight into the value stream’s performance (through metrics) and designing improvements to reduce waste and optimize flow.
Below is an illustration of value stream mapping of the DVS. It is perhaps worth noting here that SAFe generally tends to place a greater emphasis on the DVS than the OVS.
Value Stream Management
SAFe 6.0 has a relatively new article on Value Stream Management. It focuses on Value Stream Management as a “leadership and technical discipline” in the context of the five Lean Principles.
- Precisely specify value by specific product
- Identify the value stream for each product
- Make value flow without interruptions
- Let the customer pull value from the producer
- Pursue perfection
As you can see there is overlap with some of the activities and articles previously described. This article gives a different lens and a more holistic context in which to think about managing value streams.
FAQ: How many value streams does my organization have?
I’ve noticed a tendency for smaller organizations (i.e. ones with hundreds not thousands of employees) to think they have a lot of value streams.
In reality, many will only have a single customer-facing Operational Value Stream, and perhaps a couple of Development Value Streams to develop the customer solution and support internal solutions.
Below are two common value stream identification mistakes that I have observed:
- Considering individual software solutions or products to be distinct Operational Value Streams.
i.e. Considering a mobile app to be a separate OVS to web apps, rather than them being variant software solutions delivered as part of the same OVS. - Mistaking a customer’s value stream for their own. ERP and SaaS software vendors sometimes mistake their customer’s OVS for their own. While this is useful information, it is not your value stream.
i.e. Mapping how the software your organization provides will be used to run a customer’s business.
Summary
I hope this article has helped clarify what value streams are both in terms of their Lean origins and their use in SAFe. The main takeaway points are:
- SAFe offers four common patterns for Operational Value Streams, and one for Development Value Streams.
- Operational Value Streams are a sequence of activities to deliver a customer request.
- Development Value Streams (1) Develop and support solutions used by the end customer or solutions that enable the OVS, and (2) are realized by Agile Release Trains through Define> Build > Validate >Release activities.
- Value Stream and ART Identification is a high-level activity for identifying OVS and DVS and designing ARTs.
- (In SAFe) Value Stream Mapping is a more granular activity to improve flow through previously identified value streams (usually focusing on DVS).
- Individual products and solutions are not necessarily independent value streams.
Thanks for reading my article😀 I hope you have found it helpful.
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