SAA is a collection of selected software interfaces, conventions, and 
protocols that are used as a framework for developing consistent, 
integrated applications across the major IBM computing environments.

Four major components of this architecture are:
 - Common User Access (CUA) defines conventions for GUI look and feel.
 - Common Programming Interface (CPI) provides languages, tools, and 
   APIs that give applications greater portability and more consistent user 
   interfaces across multiple platforms. 
 - Common Communication Support (CCS) supports existing 
   communications standards, such as LU 6.2. 
 - Common Applications, written by IBM, will serve as demonstrations of 
   SAA concepts and make it easy for users to migrate between systems.