Agents of Change

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Agents of Change

by James Odell

May 1, 2000


Centralizing a corporation was once considered an efficient way to run an enterprise. Decisions and information processing occurred in an orderly, top-down, hierarchical manner. However, it is now clear that this type of system only works in a reasonably stable market. Globalization and changes in technology are causing today's market to be in a state of constant flux. Companies that cannot adapt fast enough to thrive in new markets will be left behind.

 

In response, many companies are now building agent-based systems. These systems employ agents that can distribute functionality across a vast computing network. Furthermore, agents can not only adapt to their environment but also evolve by learning from the environment. In short, they are the ultimate in distributed computing. Such an approach prepares enterprises for an increasingly complex marketplace and enables them to respond rapidly to change.

However, agents and agent-based technology are an evolution, not a revolution. They are being built from today's technology and will work together with today's technology. While agents, objects, relational databases, legacy systems, imbedded systems and so on each have their own niche, together they can orchestrate rich systems that none of these technologies could provide alone.



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