Scaled Agile Frameworks, what are the alternatives to SAFe?  Read about Nexus, the alternative enterprise scaling framework from Scrum.org

Nexus is Scrum.org’s framework for scaling Scrum across multiple teams. It is designed to keep things lightweight, while still solving the hard problems that show up when several teams build the same product.

If you are scaling delivery in the UAE or GCC, Nexus is worth understanding. It offers a practical middle ground between “just add more Scrum teams” and heavyweight enterprise frameworks.

Key takeaways

• Nexus scales Scrum with minimal extra roles, events, and artefacts.
• The Nexus Integration Team focuses on integration and cross-team coordination.
• Nexus works best when teams share one Product Backlog and one Product Goal.
• It is a lighter option than Scaled Agile, with fewer layers and less ceremony.
• Your biggest risks are integration, dependencies, and inconsistent ways of working.

Challenge / why this matters

Scaling Agile is rarely blocked by intent. It is blocked by integration and decision latency.

Once you have more than one team, common failure modes appear quickly:

• Teams deliver “done” work that does not integrate cleanly
• Dependencies create hidden queues and late surprises
• Product ownership becomes fragmented across competing priorities
• Quality drops because testing and release readiness are inconsistent
• Transparency reduces as work splits across tools, boards, and teams

In the GCC, these challenges are often amplified by distributed delivery, vendor involvement, and governance requirements. That is true in banking, telecoms, government programmes, and large family groups.

A scaling approach needs to solve these problems without introducing new bureaucracy. That is the niche Nexus aims to fill.

Approach / how it works

Nexus extends Scrum to coordinate 3–9 Scrum Teams working on a single product. It keeps Scrum intact and adds only what is needed to manage cross-team integration.

If you want the official reference, start with the Scrum.org guide on Nexus ↗.

1) Keep the core Scrum structure intact

Nexus is not “Scrum plus a lot of extra roles”. It assumes teams already understand Scrum and can produce a potentially releasable Increment every Sprint.

A healthy Nexus environment typically has:

• One Product Owner with a single product direction
• Multiple Scrum Teams with cross-functional capability
• One shared Product Backlog
• One shared Definition of Done
• A focus on a single integrated Increment each Sprint

If the basics are weak, scaling will magnify the weaknesses. Before scaling, it is worth strengthening team-level Scrum discipline and outcomes.

2) Use the Nexus Integration Team to reduce integration risk

The Nexus Integration Team (NIT) is not a management layer. It is accountable for ensuring that the integrated Increment exists each Sprint, and that integration problems are made visible early.

In practice, the NIT supports:

• Cross-team dependency management
• Integration planning and sequencing
• Removal of impediments that span teams
• Shared engineering standards and quality practices
• Transparency of “integration debt” and release readiness

The NIT may include people from the Scrum Teams. It should not become a separate “integration department” that does the work on behalf of teams.

3) Add just enough events to synchronise teams

Nexus introduces a small set of events that complement the Scrum Events (aka Ceremonies). The intent is to align planning, make dependencies visible, and inspect integration daily.

Common Nexus events include:

• Nexus Sprint Planning
• Nexus Daily Scrum
• Nexus Sprint Review
• Nexus Sprint Retrospective

These do not replace team events. They sit above them to coordinate the whole product increment.

In a GCC context, the biggest value is often simple: fewer surprises at the end of the Sprint, and fewer late escalations across teams and vendors.

4) Use shared artefacts to keep transparency high

In scaled environments, transparency is often the first casualty. Teams drift into different tools, different definitions, and different ways of reporting progress.

Nexus encourages a shared view of work and goals, including:

• A consolidated view of Sprint work across teams
• A single Sprint Goal at the Nexus level
• Clear visibility of integration work and risks

This helps leaders and stakeholders see what is truly “done” versus what is partially complete across teams.

5) Run the whole system empirically

Nexus is grounded in empiricism. You inspect reality and adapt based on what you learn.

This means you actively look for:

• Where integration breaks down
• Where dependencies create queues
• Where quality gates slow delivery
• Where roles and accountabilities are unclear
• Where teams are optimising locally, not end-to-end

The goal is not perfect process. The goal is predictable delivery of an integrated Increment and continuous improvement.

If you want a practical way to surface these issues quickly, our Team Health Assessment guide is a good starting point ↗.

Nexus vs Scaled Agile and LeSS

Nexus, LeSS, and Scaled Agile all aim to help organisations scale Agile delivery. They differ mainly in complexity, prescriptiveness, and scope.

1) Nexus vs LeSS

LeSS and Nexus both try to remain close to Scrum principles and avoid excessive overhead.

Typical differences in practice:

• Nexus focuses more directly on integration and coordination across Scrum Teams
• LeSS puts more emphasis on broader organisational design and “descaling” complexity
• Nexus adds a specific integration construct (NIT) to drive an integrated Increment

If your immediate problem is “we cannot integrate across teams reliably”, Nexus is often a straightforward fit.

2) Nexus vs Scaled Agile

Scaled Agile is more prescriptive. It introduces additional layers, roles, and coordination structures, which can be useful in some enterprise contexts.

However, that structure can also introduce:

• More governance overhead
• More role confusion during rollout
• More process weight before value delivery improves

Nexus is typically chosen when you want a simpler scaling approach that keeps decision-making closer to teams.

If you are considering a Scaled Agile rollout, it is worth having a clear view of the trade-offs. Read our perspective on why Agile fails in the Middle East ↗, as many failure patterns show up during scaling.

Where Nexus fits best

Nexus is usually a good fit when:

• You have 3–9 teams on one product
• Integration is a constant bottleneck
• Teams are capable, but coordination is weak
• You want a lightweight scaling approach
• You can align around one Product Owner and one Product Backlog

In the UAE and wider GCC, we often see this in:

• Digital banking platforms and shared channels
• Telecoms apps and customer journeys
• Government digital services with multiple delivery squads
• Large ERP and data modernisation programmes
• Multi-vendor product delivery with internal ownership

If your environment involves multiple vendors, Nexus can still work. But you must be strict about transparency, quality standards, and integration ownership.

Practical takeaways / what to do next

If you are exploring Nexus, these steps reduce risk and speed up learning.

1) Validate the preconditions before “scaling”

Before you formalise Nexus, check these basics:

• Can each team produce a potentially releasable Increment today?
• Do teams share a Definition of Done?
• Is there one Product Owner with clear authority?
• Do teams work from one Product Backlog?
• Do you have a real integration environment and automated testing?

If the answer is “no” to several of these, start by strengthening team-level delivery first.

2) Make integration work visible and planned

Integration is often treated as “someone else’s problem” until late in the Sprint.

Make it explicit:

• Track integration tasks as real work
• Agree integration standards and quality gates
• Create a clear “integration-ready” checklist
• Inspect integration daily, not weekly

This is where Nexus creates immediate value.

3) Reduce dependencies by design, not by meetings

More meetings do not fix dependencies. Better slicing and clearer boundaries do.

Focus on:

• Vertical slicing by customer value
• Limiting shared components where possible
• Agreeing ownership of components and APIs
• Improving backlog refinement so teams can plan with fewer unknowns

If you want to strengthen product ownership and backlog practices, our MTN case study provides a helpful example of operating model change in a complex environment ↗.

4) Use a short “inspect and adapt” cycle for scaling

Treat scaling as an experiment, not a rollout.

Run a 4–8 week cycle where you:

• Establish Nexus events and artefacts
• Measure integration outcomes and delivery flow
• Identify the biggest impediments
• Adjust the working model based on evidence

This keeps scaling practical and prevents process bloat.

Related reading

• Read about Agile delivery friction ↗
• Explore procurement agility at scale ↗

Relevant training courses

• Explore Scaled Professional Scrum with Nexus ↗
• View Professional Scrum Master ↗
• Learn Applying Professional Scrum ↗
• Explore Professional Scrum with Kanban ↗

Conclusion

Nexus is a pragmatic way to scale Scrum without adding unnecessary complexity. It focuses on the real challenge of multi-team delivery: producing an integrated Increment every Sprint.

For organisations in the UAE and GCC, that focus is often exactly what is needed. If you are struggling with dependencies, integration debt, or inconsistent quality across teams, Nexus is worth a closer look.

Contact us

If you want to assess whether Nexus is a fit for your organisation, we can help you evaluate readiness, design a lightweight scaling approach, and avoid common scaling pitfalls.

Book a 30-minute diagnostic call ↗

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