SSM Introducing Scrum in SAFe Practice Question
An organization is introducing Scrum at the team level within a SAFe Agile Release Train. A new Scrum Master is asked by a team member which artifact holds the work items that the team will build during an iteration, and who is accountable for its content. What is the correct answer in a SAFe context?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is mixing up the four levels of SAFe backlogs and assigning ownership to the wrong role, such as giving the Program Backlog to the Release Train Engineer.
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
✓
The Team Backlog, owned by the Product Owner.
The Team Backlog is the team-level artifact in SAFe that holds the user stories and enablers for upcoming iterations, and the Product Owner is accountable for its content and ordering. Confusing it with program, solution, or portfolio backlogs is a common mistake when teams are first introduced to the SAFe backlog hierarchy during training.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The Solution Backlog, owned by the Solution Train Engineer.
Why it's wrong here
The Solution Backlog exists at the Large Solution level and contains capabilities and enablers for a Solution Train, owned by Solution Management. It is far above the team's iteration scope, so it cannot hold the stories a single team will build during an iteration, and the Solution Train Engineer facilitates rather than owns backlog content.
- ✗
The Program Backlog, owned by the Release Train Engineer.
Why it's wrong here
The Program Backlog is the ART-level backlog of features and enablers, and it is owned by the Product Management function, not the Release Train Engineer. It is used for PI Planning and program-level prioritization rather than for iteration-level work, so it is not the artifact that drives a single team's iteration execution.
- ✗
The Portfolio Backlog, owned by the Enterprise Architect.
Why it's wrong here
The Portfolio Backlog holds epics and business epics at the portfolio level and is owned by the Lean Portfolio Management function, not the Enterprise Architect. It governs investment themes and funding decisions well above the team level, so it is not the artifact that a team pulls work from during an iteration.
- ✓
The Team Backlog, owned by the Product Owner.
Why this is correct
In SAFe the Team Backlog contains user stories and enablers that the team will implement in the current and upcoming iterations, and the Product Owner is accountable for its content and order. It is the team-level counterpart to the Program Backlog, and it is the primary artifact the team pulls from during Iteration Planning and refines continuously.
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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 SSM 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 SSM exam.