Scrum: Team-Level Agility
Scrum is a lightweight framework for managing work within a small team. It includes sprints, roles (Scrum Master, Product Owner), and ceremonies (Daily Scrum, Sprint Review).
SAFe: Scaling Agile Across the Enterprise
SAFe builds on Agile principles to align multiple teams across departments and portfolios. It introduces roles like Release Train Engineer and ceremonies like PI Planning.
Key Differences
- Scope: Scrum focuses on one team; SAFe coordinates multiple Agile teams.
- Structure: Scrum is minimalistic; SAFe is a comprehensive framework with layers (Team, Program, Portfolio).
- Governance: SAFe includes strategy alignment, budgeting, and architectural governance — beyond Scrum’s scope.
When to Use What?
Use Scrum for single-team agility. Choose SAFe if your organization needs to scale Agile practices across multiple teams and align them with enterprise goals.