SAFe Knowledge Base » Solution Train
Solution Train
Principle of Alignment: There is more value created with overall alignment than with local excellence.
—Don Reinertsen
Definition: The Solution Train is the organizational construct used to build large solutions that requires the coordination of multiple ARTs and suppliers.
The Solution Train construct in SAFe describes the additional roles, events, and artifacts needed to build large solutions that require contributions from multiple ARTs and suppliers. These solutions often have an unacceptable social or economic cost for failure, are often subject to industry and regulatory standards and must provide objective evidence of compliance with those standards. Many large solutions are part of an even larger ‘system-of-systems’ built by an extended supply chain, as described in the Supplier article.
Details
Solution Trains provide the constructs businesses need to build large solutions—including cyber-physical systems—in a Lean-Agile manner. They align multiple Agile Release Trains (ARTs) and Suppliers to a shared mission (Figure 1). Solution Trains help manage the inherent risk and variability of large-scale solution development with additional roles, artifacts, and events described in this article.
Why Solution Trains?
Solution Trains form for different reasons. Some trains form with new ARTs and Agile Teams to specifically address a large initiative, while others begin by combining existing ARTs and teams. This is particularly true in organizations operating with SAFe for some time as they recognize the opportunity and need to reorganize around value (see Principle # 10) occasionally.
In the latter case, Solution Trains may experience an initial forming period even though its ARTs have been performing for quite some time with a mature backlog, roadmap, Continuous Delivery Pipeline (CDP) infrastructure, and other assets. When forming a Solution Train from existing ARTs, quickly creating the foundational SAFe artifacts (Solution Train Vision, Backlog, and roles) is critical to getting work to the existing ARTs and teams. Over time, the leaders can grow the backlog’s Solution Train Backlog Kanban system, create a Solution Roadmap, form a System Team, and implement other large solution constructs.