Supporting value streams

Each SAFe portfolio contains one or more value streams, and each value stream supports business operations or the development of one or more products or solutions. As you learned in the chapters on Lean, the whole point of having value streams is to eliminate functional or organizational silos that hinder the focus on the delivery of value. Instead, value streams have a singular focus on improving value across a single product or product line.

Operational value streams include the activities and people who support the business of the organization. For example, commercial manufacturing organizations may have teams within the ARTs, or Solution Trains, focused on order entry, finance, legal, human resources, accounting, marketing, sales, product or solution delivery, and support.

In contrast, the development value streams include the activities and people who define, build, test, and release products. Note that the term release in this context does not...