The Lean Portfolio Management team is reviewing new work moving through the Portfolio Kanban. Request 1 is incremental innovation and can likely be…

According to the Scaled Agile Framework, the Portfolio Backlog contains the highest-level portfolio

epics, which are large, cross-cutting initiatives that require analysis, approval, and funding by the

Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) team1. The ART Backlog contains the features, which are services

provided by the system that fulfill stakeholder needs2. Features are derived from epics and are

typically implemented by one Agile Release Train (ART) within one Program Increment (PI)3.

Therefore, Request 1, which is an incremental innovation that can be done by one ART in one PI,

should be added to the ART Backlog as a Feature. Request 2, which is a major opportunity impacting

multiple stages of the Value Stream and requiring the participation of two ARTs over multiple PIs,

should be added to the Portfolio Backlog as an Epic.

Reference:

Portfolio Backlog: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework explains the purpose, structure, and

content of the Portfolio Backlog, and how it is managed by the LPM team using the Portfolio Kanban

system.

Features: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework defines the concept of features, their

attributes, and their relationship with epics and stories.

ART Backlog: This article from the Scaled Agile Framework describes the role, composition, and

management of the ART Backlog, and how it supports the PI Planning process.