After development is safely underway, the ARTs have the responsibility for implementing the new epic into the solution. As the features and capabilities that define the epics are incorporated into the Solution, the Epic Owner returns to other duties or takes responsibility for other emerging epics. After the initiation, the Epic Owner may have some ongoing responsibilities for stewardship and follow-up. After the epic is approved, the Epic Owner works with Agile Teams to initiate the development activities necessary to realize the epic’s business outcome hypothesis.
The Epic Owner is responsible for guiding individual epics through the Portfolio Kanban system from identification through LPM approval. The collaborative nature of the Epic Owner roleīy working closely with these key stakeholders, Epic Owners can create a realistic and compelling vision, appropriate economic priorities, and a consistent set of features and capabilities. Key collaborators are highlighted in Figure 1. They help fill in the gaps that often occur when high-level initiatives descend from the top of the organization for implementation. Epic Owners are responsible for formulating and elaborating the epic and analyzing its cost and impact by collaborating closely with other groups in the portfolio.Īn Epic Owner can only be effective by collaborating closely with other groups. The expectation is that the substantial investment represented by the epic will generate a commensurate amount of economic value. In SAFe, epics are the container for significant Solution development initiative. They may also have some responsibility for supporting the initiative as it moves downstream through the Continuous Delivery Pipeline to Release on Demand. They collaboratively define the epic, its Minimum Viable Product (MVP), and Lean business case, and when approved, facilitate implementation.Įpic Owner works directly with the Agile Release Train (ART) and Solution Train stakeholders to define the Features and Capabilities that realize the value of approved Epics. To be in hell is to drift to be in heaven is to steer.Įpic Owners are responsible for coordinating portfolio Epics through the Portfolio Kanban system.