Implementing SAFe® with SPC Certification

During this four-day course, attendees will learn how to lead a Lean-Agile transformation by leveraging the practices and principles of the Scaled Agile Framework® (SAFe®) to achieve Business Agility in the Digital Age.

Certifying as a SAFe® 5 Program Consultant (SPC), and becoming a change agent, also enables attendees to train and certify others in a range of SAFe® courses.

The first two days of the course—Leading SAFe®—cover the SAFe Principles, and the Team and Technical Agility, Agile Product Delivery and Lean Portfolio Management core competencies. The final two days focus exclusively on what it takes to successfully implement SAFe in the Enterprise, following the SAFe® Implementation Roadmap.

Attendees practice the steps necessary to bring an organization to the tipping point and how to identify Value Streams and organize Agile Release Trains (ARTs), followed by learning how to successfully prepare, launch, and coach ARTs. The attendees then explore launching more ARTs as part of a Solution Train and how to extend Lean-Agile practices to the Portfolio with Lean Portfolio Management. The course concludes by focusing on the areas needed to accelerate towards Business Agility by establishing Organizational Agility, building a Continuous Learning Culture and identifying improvement opportunities by applying the SAFe assessments.

What Attendees Have Said:

"I really enjoyed the course, the course tutors were able to bring the topics to life both with their experiences and projects they'd both been involved in. Hence me booking the course when I knew you were giving the training”
Jaeson B, Agile Coach

"Huge thanks to the trainers for a thoroughly insightful SAFe Agile SPC course. It was my first experience online training wise and although we know nothing beats face to face. Nevertheless through zoom and mural we were able to have a really interactive 4 days.” Dominic C, Senior Management Consultant, Moorhouse

"A huge thank you to Darren & Kay for their superb teaching remotely over four days’
SAFe SPC participant, April 2020

FAQs

COVID-19

On 3 March 2020, Scaled Agile announced it would allow requests for remote course delivery for all SAFe courses. Additional guidance from their team effective from 9 June 2020 allows the remote delivery of SAFe classes on an on-going basis if required. Radtac is planning to to facilitate many of our scheduled training via our Live-Online virtual classroom. We are continually reviewing this decision based on advice from the local authorities in the region of delivery to ensure the safety of our clients. team and partners. For further information please see our policy here.

What is a Live-Online course?

Live-Online courses are those delivered via our virtual (online) classroom. You will collaborate and interact with your course tutor and participants in real-time via video conferencing and our our digital workspace. You can read more about our Live-Online courses, tools and watch a short video on what to expect here. For public scheduled Live-Online courses you should for look for the dates with a location set as Live-Online <city>. The city is used to highlight the timezone the class will be set in but can be joined by anyone who can be present during the duration of the course.

How do I reserve my place on a public course?

Simply click on the blue button on this page titled ‘Book Course’ to reserve your place today. This is a very popular course, spaces fill quickly and it is recommended that you book your course as soon as practicable. We always ensure our pricing is competitive and offers real value for money.

How do I book a number of employees for private a course?

If you would like one of our qualified trainers to host to your organisation, simply click the button on this page titled ‘Virtual Enquiry’ for remote courses or "on-site enquiry' for face-to-face classroom delivery, fill in the details and we will be in touch within 24hrs. We can then personalise the program to fit your specific needs, tailored to your specific business outcomes and budget.

Blogs, articles & resources

Is Leading SAFe® required before taking an Implementing SAFe® class?

This is an important question and is frequently asked by those seeking SAFe® Program Consultant (SPC) certification. It's so frequently asked in fact that we thought it was a worthy topic for discussion and have put together a short article to answer this burning question.

I've completed Leading SAFe® do I need to attend for the first 2 days of this course?

In short – yes! The certification to become a SAFe® Program Consultant (SPC) demands a 4-day attendance. The article link above provides additional information and advice.

Leading SAFe® – Days 1 and 2

• Thriving in the Digital Age with Business Agility
• Becoming a Lean-Agile Leader
• Establishing Team and Technical Agility
• Building Solutions with Agile Product Delivery
• Exploring Lean Portfolio Management
• Leading the Change
• Practicing SAFe

Implementing SAFe® – Days 3 and 4

• Reaching the SAFe Tipping Point
• Designing the Implementation
• Launching an Agile Release Train
• Coaching ART Execution
• Extending to the Portfolio
• Accelerating to Business Agility
• Becoming a SAFe 5 Program Consultant (SPC)

• Lead an enterprise Lean-Agile transformation
• Implement the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
• Empower with a Lean Portfolio
• Align the organization to a common language and way of working
• Perform Value Stream identification
• Launch and support Agile Release Trains, and coordinate Large Solutions
• Build and execute an implementation rollout strategy
• Configure the Framework for a specific enterprise context
• Train managers and executives in Leading SAFe®
• Continue their learning journey and become enabled to train other SAFe roles in the enterprise

This course is intended for those who will be materially and directly involved in a SAFe implementation. This includes practitioners, change agents, and consultants responsible for implementing Agile programs and portfolios as part of an enterprise Lean-Agile change initiative. Attendees typically include:

• Professional Services Consultants
• Internal Change Agents, Lean-Agile Center for Excellence (LACE) participants, Agile Working Groups
• Business and Technology Executives, Leaders, Managers, and Directors
• Portfolio Managers and Fiduciaries, Project/Program Management Office (PMO) personnel
• Development, QA, and IT Managers
• Program and Project Managers
• Product and Product Line Managers
• Process Leads and Lifecycle Governance personnel
• Enterprise, System, and Solution Architects

All stakeholders in a Lean-Agile transformation are welcome to attend the course, regardless of experience.

However, the following prerequisites are highly recommended for those who intend to take the SAFe® 4 Program Consultant certification exam and practice as a SAFe® 4 Program Consultant (SPC):

• 5+ years of experience in software development, testing, business analysis, product, or project management
• 3+ years of experience in Agile
• One or more relevant Agile certifications

We'd suggest prior to attending this course participants explore the Full SAFe Configuration at the Scaled Agile Framework website: https://www.scaledagileframework.com/. The icons are clickable, and they will take you to the relevant article.

The following articles are recommended reading:

• Business Agility: https://www.scaledagileframework.com/business-agility/
• Lean-Agile Mindset: https://www.scaledagileframework.com/lean-agile-mindset/
• Team and Technical Agility: https://www.scaledagileframework.com/team-and-technical-agility/
• Agile Product Delivery: https://www.scaledagileframework.com/agile-product-delivery/
• Lean Portfolio Management: https://www.scaledagileframework.com/lean-portfolio-management/
• Lean-Agile Leadership: Lean-Agile Leadership: https://www.scaledagileframework.com/lean-agile-leadership/
• SAFe Implementation Roadmap: https://www.scaledagileframework.com/implementation-roadmap/

Exam requirements

The first step toward becoming a Certified SAFe® Program Consultant is to attend this course. This is a requirement, because attending the course provides access to all the study materials and the exam. Note that attending the course does not guarantee passing the exam.

Exam prerequisite skills

• Facilitation skills
• Classroom management and time management
• Agile experience – ability to teach an Agile class for beginners
• Ability to communicate with all levels of an organization
• Possess experiences or stories, and the ability to connect business and IT
• Experience and ability to connect across business contexts and speak the language
• Technical fluency to effectively work with processes and workflows
• Emotional intelligence—at a minimum, understand the impact of decisions on people, workflows, and business

Exam details

• Exam name – SAFe® 5 Program Consultant Exam
• Exam format – Multiple choice
• Exam delivery – Web-based (single-browser), closed book, no outside assistance, timed
• Exam access – Candidates can access the exam within the SAFe Community Platform upon completion of your course
• Exam duration – Once the exam begins, candidates have 120 minutes (2 hours) to complete the exam
• Number of questions – 60
• Passing score – 45 out of 60 (75%)
• Language – English
• Exam cost – First exam attempt is included as part of the course registration fee if the exam is taken within 30 days of course completion. Each retake attempt costs $250.
• Retake policy – Second attempt on exam (first retake) can be done immediately after first attempt. Third attempt requires a 10-day wait. Fourth attempt requires a 30-day wait.

Exam study materials

The exam is designed to measure knowledge and skill related to the job role. We highly recommend candidates use a variety of resources to prepare for this exam including:

• Course materials – The course materials are an essential artifact from the course and can be downloaded from the SAFe Community Platform. These materials can be used to refer back to the content that was presented during the class.
• Study guide – This comprehensive guide details the job role and all resources related to the exam, including a detailed reading list. Access is available through the Learning Plan in the SAFe Community Platform upon course completion.
• Practice test – The practice test is designed to be predictive of success on the certification exam,* and it has the same number of questions, level of difficulty, and time duration. It is part of the Learning Plan in the SAFe Community Platform and can be taken an unlimited number of times at no cost. *This is not the actual exam, and passing it does not guarantee success on the certification exam.
• Sample Questions – A web-enabled, flashcard style version of the sample questions can be found online and in the study guide.

• Workbook
• Preparation and eligibility to take the SAFe 5 Program Consultant (SPC) exam
• One-year membership to the SAFe Community Platform
• Course certificate of completion

Attendees must attend all four days of the course in order to qualify for the exam.

Attendees who pass the exam will receive:

• Certified SAFe® Program Consultant PDF certificate
• Certified SAFe® Program Consultant digital badge to promote your accomplishment online
• One-year membership to the SAFe Community Platform, which includes access to the SPC Community of Practice
• Access to Meetup groups and events that connect you with other SAFe certified professionals
• A variety of learning resources to support you during your SAFe journey
• Access to online Trainer Enablement plans to qualify to teach and certify others in Leading SAFe® (SA), SAFe® for Government (SGP), SAFe® Product Owner/Product Manager (POPM), SAFe® Scrum Master (SSM), SAFe® Advanced Scrum Master (SASM), SAFe® DevOps (SDP), SAFe® Agile Software Engineering (ASE), SAFe® for Teams (SP), and SAFe® Release Train Engineer (RTE).**You must be a certified RTE and an SPC to teach the RTE course, and only Gold Partner SPCTs can qualify to teach the RTE course in a public environment.

We use Zoom video conferencing to host our live online courses via a virtual classroom. We recommend that before registering participants run a zoom test meeting and check system requirements to ensure they are able to connect. Participants will also use our digital workspace, Mural and our Agile Tools Mobile app for collaboration with the class and completing exercises for the duration of the course. You’ll find links below to test and explain requirements for each of these tools.

Zoom requirements

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362023-System-Requirements-for-PC-Mac-and-Linux

Zoom test meeting

https://zoom.us/test

Mural requirements (if relevant)

https://support.mural.co/en/articles/2113688-technical-requirements-to-run-mural

Miro requirements (if relevant)

https://help.miro.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017731553-System-requirements

Agile Tools Mobile App

https://www.radtac.com/resources/agile-tools-mobile-app/

On registration full information will be provided via joining instructions to each partcipant with instructions on how to acess the virtual classroom and additional tools.

Still unsure? Talk to our team of friendly learning advisors, they are here to assist before, during and after your class if you have any questions.