SAFe-Agilist Exploring Lean Portfolio Management Practice Question
A Portfolio Manager notices that the current investment mix is heavily skewed toward maintenance activities, leaving little room for innovation. Which action should the Portfolio Manager take to better align the portfolio with the strategy?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often suggest 'reducing maintenance staff' or 'cutting budgets' as the solution. SAFe emphasizes rebalancing investment horizons across value streams to ensure long-term strategic alignment, not just tactical cost reduction.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Rebalance the portfolio budget by adjusting investment horizons for value streams.
To align investment with strategy, the Portfolio Manager must utilize the Portfolio Canvas and Strategic Themes to rebalance the allocation of budget across Value Streams. This approach ensures that capital is directed toward initiatives that provide long-term competitive advantage rather than just sustaining legacy systems. By adjusting the investment horizons in the portfolio budget, the organization can shift focus from tactical maintenance to delivering strategic, high-value outcomes.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Increase the capacity allocation for maintenance to ensure legacy system stability.
Why it's wrong here
Increasing maintenance capacity further entrenches the current imbalance, making it harder to pivot toward innovation. This action contradicts the strategic goal of shifting focus toward new value delivery. The portfolio must instead prioritize investment horizons that support future growth rather than solely focusing on current operational stability.
- ✗
Implement a forced ranking of all maintenance tasks by technical debt priority.
Why it's wrong here
Forced ranking of maintenance tasks focuses on operational efficiency rather than strategic alignment. While managing technical debt is important, it does not solve the underlying issue of investment imbalance. The Portfolio Manager needs to evaluate the entire portfolio against strategic themes to ensure resources follow high-value business objectives.
- ✓
Rebalance the portfolio budget by adjusting investment horizons for value streams.
Why this is correct
Adjusting investment horizons allows the organization to shift funding from 'Extract' and 'Retire' categories toward 'Invest' and 'Evolve' categories. This aligns spending with strategic themes and ensures that the portfolio supports future business viability. It provides a clear mechanism to move away from maintenance dominance toward innovation and growth.
- ✗
Outsource all maintenance activities to reduce the internal cost center burden.
Why it's wrong here
Outsourcing maintenance shifts costs but does not fundamentally rebalance the strategic investment mix or drive innovation. It ignores the need to align the portfolio with strategic themes. Without a clear strategy for reallocating those savings into new value streams, the portfolio remains misaligned with the intended business outcomes.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Scaled Agile exam blueprint
This SAFe-Agilist practice question is part of Courseiva's free Scaled Agile certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SAFe-Agilist exam.