IBM Systems Application Architecture

Systems Application Architecture (SAA), introduced in 1987,[1] is a set of standards for computer software developed by IBM. The SAA initiative was started in 1987 under the leadership of Earl Wheeler, the "Father of SAA".[2] The intent was to implement SAA in IBM operating systems including MVS, OS/400 and OS/2. AIX—IBM's version of the UNIX operating system—was not a target of SAA, but does have interoperability with the SAA family.

SAA did not define new standards, but selected from among IBM's existing guidelines and software. IBM also purchased some third party software from developers such as Bachman Information Systems, Index Technology, Inc., and KnowledgeWare, Inc.[3] These were intended to be implemented uniformly across all SAA compliant environments.

The standard was "designed to make application programs look and work in the same manner across the entire range of the company's personal computing systems, midrange processors and System/370 processors."[4]

SAA was labeled "complex, obscure, and potentially difficult to learn."[5]: p.xi  Under Lou Gerstner IBM later quietly discontinued use of the "SAA" umbrella. By 2001, SAA was being spoken of in the past tense.[6] However many of the individual components of SAA are still in use as of 2014.

  1. ^ "IBM Archives: 1980s". IBM. 23 January 2003. Archived from the original on December 16, 2004.
  2. ^ Bride, Ed; Desmond, John (Dec 1989). "Wheeler: father of SAA - IBM VP and General manager of programming Systems Division Earl Wheeler; Systems Application Architecture - interview". Software Magazine. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
  3. ^ "IBM kauft sich für SAA Software-Know-how ein". Computerwoche. 1989-08-25. Archived from the original on 2013-02-10. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
  4. ^ IBM Corporation (23 January 2003). "IBM Archives: 1987". Archived from the original on December 16, 2004.
  5. ^ Linnell, Dennis (1990). The SAA Handbook. Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0-201-51786-8.
  6. ^ Cooper, Charles (November 2, 2001). "Gerstner's legacy and why it matters". ZDNet. Retrieved June 20, 2012.